Ghost Hunt: Inception
by Kuroneko19
Summary: SPR continues to investigate strange occurances in Japan, this time with an enigmatic newcomer spawning underlying mystery. Case File #2: In Vino Veritas - A selective wine bar in the Golden Gai poses many questions. The truth, they say, is in the wine...
1. Case File 1 Pt 1

_**Author's Note:**__ Greetings and salutations! I am Kuroneko19, but feel free to call me K-chan. ^_^ This is my first Ghost Hunt fan fic, which takes place following the anime. Contrary to what the title, the plotline has nothing to do with the film __**Inception**__, but instead has to do with the events that will take place as this story progresses. I do my best to keep everyone as in-character as possible – if anyone finds inconsistencies, please feel free to point them out._

_Please remember: all questions, comments, constructive criticism, and/or suggestions are welcome and appreciated. Thank you so much for reading – enjoy!_

_**Disclaimer: **__I own nothing from __**Ghost Hunt**__. I just like to write. ^_^_

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><p><strong>Ghost Hunt:<br>Inception**  
>By Kuroneko<p>

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><p><strong>Case File #1: Skeletons in the Closet<br>Part 1**

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><p><em>If you can't get rid of the skeleton in your closet, then you'd best teach it to dance.<em>

– George Bernard Shaw

**July  
>8:32 AM<strong>

"You're Mr. Kazehiro Otanashi, correct?"

"That's correct," the older man answered with a nod. "I apologize for the inconvenience of having shown up without an appointment, but I just came to learn about these incidents from the men only recently and looked you up. I'm afraid my earlier phone call was the best I could do, given the circumstances."

"Oh, that's all right," the brown-haired girl said cheerfully, offering him a steaming cup of freshly brewed tea.

"Ah, thank you, dear." Mr. Otanashi gave her a grateful smile as he accepted the beverage. In the back of his mind, he couldn't help but note that it was a comfort to find such a kind and warm soul in the presence of such outwardly cold men.

In particular, he noted, the older teen sitting across from him, one leg crossed over the other with a black notebook opened across his lap. How such a young man could give off the air of the arctic winds (and wear so much black in this heat!) was a mystery, though not so much as how this very same young man _was the chief executive officer of a paranormal research center_.

_That_ Mr. Otanashi had not expected. To find that Kazuya Shibuya was in fact eighteen years of age and the boss of the older gentleman named Lin Koujo (whom Otanashi had initially taken to be Mr. Shibuya on first glance) and that darling young lady came as a bit of a shock. Of course, given the recent turn of events, the balding old man supposed he couldn't be too judgmental. After all, Shibuya Psychic Research _had_ be highly praised and recommended…

"Returning to the subject at hand," the stormy-eyed young man continued, interrupting his potential client's musings. "Would you tell me about your situation in-depth? Your description over the phone was rather vague."

"Yes, of course." He took another appreciative sip of tea before setting the cup down on the table. He peered through his spectacles to give the young man another look before taking in a breath and relaying his story.

"As you asked before, I am the Kazehiro Otanashi who phoned you an hour ago. I'm the chief executive officer of Tomei Construction Company's Meguro Branch. We're a relatively high-level company, commissioned mostly by the larger business firms looking to expand. We also specialize in high-rise tenement buildings and regular apartment complexes."

"Wasn't Tomei Construction Company in charge of that art museum reconstruction project two months ago?" the girl inquired from her position behind her employer.

Mr. Otanashi smiled at her again. "That's quite correct, Miss…" he chuckled. "I'm sorry, my dear. I'm afraid I never caught your name."

"It's Mai," she replied pleasantly. "Mai Taniyama."

"Well, Miss Taniyama, you're a very observant young lady." She beamed visibly at the compliment. "The art museum was indeed reconstructed by the Shinjuku team, with additional assistance from the Shibuya and Meguro offices."

"But that isn't the reason why you're here," Kazuya Shibuya interjected, his icy tone stifling the conversation.

"No, of course not. Forgive me." The older man gave a slight bow in apology, but did not flinch. The boy in charge of SPR was terribly business oriented, but lady office assistant (such a pretty young thing, he couldn't help but think) managed to keep the atmosphere relatively calm. The fact that she'd shot him a rather disapproving look behind his back was quite amusing. "Actually, what I wish to speak to you about concern the Meguro office's current project in the Nakameguro residential area."

The rapid typing on Lin Koujo's laptop prompted him to continue. "The Nakameguro neighborhood is a very quiet residential district, you see. It was only recently that the company acquired the site we're currently working on – about seven or eight months, in fact. The building that used to be there was an old apartment complex established in the early 1900s or thereabout. It had been abandoned for a good decade up until last year, when the Meguro city council decided to begin renovating different areas. The site was handed over to us after it was purchased by one of Tokyo's major business companies, and about five or six months ago, we leveled out the old building to begin construction."

He reached over for his cup and took another long and soothing drink. "We've put up the skeleton of the new business office complex since then, and up until three weeks ago I'd thought that things were going relatively well."

"You mentioned that the Nakameguro district is residential," Shibuya interrupted. "Why would there be a business office placed there?"

"Well, it's been classified as a business offices complex, but the layout is more of a combination of both business _and_ residential," Mr. Otanashi explained. "The idea behind it is rather original, I'll admit: half of the building is solely dedicated business offices, banks, and various other things of that caliber. On the other half, and completely separate from other side, is a nice middle class apartment complex, which will be run by the company that commissioned us."

"Seems like an odd project," the man called Lin commented from behind his computer screen.

"The gentleman who came to us with the project was odd," Mr. Otanashi admitted with a bit of a laugh. "Mr. Ikezawa, I think it was. Shimizu Ikezawa. Ah, but I digress."

He set the teacup back on the table. "It was three weeks ago that I noticed the startling amount of accident reports that had been accumulating on my secretary's desk. I'd been on a month-long business trip in Nagano, and hadn't been available during that time. When I returned, I discovered that these accidents had been on the rise since construction began, and have been increasing in frequency.

"At first, I thought it was all the result of on-site carelessness," he admitted dejectedly. "I decided to monitor the foreman and the workers personally, and established a makeshift office for both myself and my secretary so that we could continue our work while maintaining surveillance. But even under careful scrutiny, the accidents continued. The foreman – one of our older employees, Umehito Sendo – had no explanation for everything that happened: crates would suddenly open and spill all their contents, and machinery would malfunction even after inspections. Many of our workers have suffered from what could easily be written off as work-related accidents, but there were a few that sustained injuries we just couldn't explain."

"What kind of injuries?" the youth inquired.

"Frostbite," said Mr. Otanashi, eyes hardening. "Frostbite in the middle of summer. Three of our workers suffered from it, and one of them was sent to the hospital with hypothermia. And then there was young Furukawa, who went home with strange burn markings and lacerations on his back when all he'd done was take measurements in one of the unfinished third-floor corridors. The rest, I couldn't even begin to think about. We started out with well over one-hundred-and-fifty workers, Mr. Shibuya. I'm having difficulty in maintaining a decent number and trying to call in other men. I've even had to resort to borrowing workers from the Setagaya branch, being as it's the largest in the area next to the Ota branch. The main office hasn't caught wind of the accidents yet, but it's only a matter of time before I receive a phone call. The CEO of the Setagaya offices hasn't been very pleased about lending out a portion of his workforce."

"That would be understandable," SPR's director said, nodding almost to himself. He cast his stormy gaze back up to the slightly winded man. "Is there anything else you tell about? Aside from the accidents, that is."

"Well, yes, there are a few things," he said in a considering tone as leaned back into the couch. "Aside from the unprecedented amount of submitted incident reports, we've had a problem with local animals – dogs in particular, as well as cats – and birds interrupting our construction. And several of my men reported coming across completed areas on the construction site that shouldn't have been there. Mr. Sendo and I were both a bit skeptical, but when we both went to investigate, we ourselves came across several rooms on the business side of the project that had somehow been completed as apartment rooms."

"Apartment rooms?" an elegantly shaped eyebrow raised.

"I know, I know… hard to believe, isn't it?" Mr. Otanashi chuckled wryly. "Believe me, Mr. Shibuya, I'm not the kind of man to give into the panic caused by some unexplained phenomenon. I'll openly admit that my first impression was that it had been some kind of prank, or else some of the workmen got their information and layouts messed up. Neither explanation was plausible, mind, but that was what I thought. But when this kept occurring in _different parts of the complex_ and the rooms _were showing up furnished_, I began to question my own sanity."

"Furnished?" the Taniyama girl looked to be caught somewhere in confusion and horror.

"Beds and nightstands," he explained, shaking his head. "And lamps and other things as well – a typical apartment setup. And if that wasn't weird enough, it all disappears the following day and that spot is exactly as we left it: unfinished."

An uneasy silence settled in the office. The only sound aside from their breathing was the repetitive clacking of Lin's fingers against the keys of his laptop.

"How long has this been going on?"

Mr. Otanashi looked to the ceiling for a moment. "Mr. Sendo and I began investigating the strange rooms about two weeks ago. According to my secretary (and I did go back and double check with him to be certain), the incident reports began not too long after we demolished the old building and began laying the base and erecting the skeleton. What happened during my trip in Nagano, I really couldn't say."

"Have you contacted the police?"

"I have," the older man affirmed with a frown. "Unfortunately, they weren't much help. They patrolled the grounds for less than a week before concluding that it was all work-related and some of it likely induced by the current heat wave we're experiencing. They also pointed out it could be local street gangs being nuisances, but with all that's been going on, I'm not very convinced this would be the case."

The black-clothed young man only hummed in response. He looked down into his notebook as if in deep thought. The room began to slip into silence once again, and Mr. Otanashi suddenly found it to no longer be bearable. Just as he was about to open his mouth…

"We'll take your case."

Mr. Otanashi blinked incredulously. "Y-you will?"

The young man nodded. "In order for us to better survey your construction site and record any data we acquire, we'll require that one of your completed rooms with working electricity will be made available to us to use as our base of operations. Additionally, we'll need lodging."

"That seems like a fair enough deal to me," Mr. Otanashi acquiesced. "I'll see to the details immediately, and send you a fax in regards to the lodgings. There are several hotels and lodging homes in the vicinity that would be happy to accommodate you I'm certain."

"That will be fine." Kazuya Shibuya closed his notebook and rose from his seat. His client did the same, and bowed in the young man's direction.

"Thank you for accepting the case, Mr. Shibuya," he said gratefully as he straightened himself out. He stuck out a weathered hand, which was gazed at for a moment before being grasped in return.

"We'll be at your site the day after tomorrow."

"Excellent. That should give me enough time to explain things to the workers and the foreman. Again, thank you, Mr. Shibuya."

Kazehiro Otanashi bowed to the young man's two assistants, and thanked Mai for the tea, before he took his leave out into the stifling summer heat in the Shibuya district. It wasn't until the air conditioning overtook the sudden humidity the simple action had allowed to infiltrate the office that Mai finally spoke.

"Hey, Naru?" she frowned as he turned slightly in her direction. "Are you sure it'll be all right for you to take a case on a construction site? I mean, it's only been a little over a week and a half since…"

"I'll be fine, Mai," he interjected coolly, brushing past her as he returned to his office.

Mai continued to frown in his direction. Not even two weeks had gone by since Naru had been released from the hospital following the incidents at the Yoshimi residence, and she hadn't the slightest idea just how badly drained he'd been using his psychokinetic powers. Even if it had been incredible, it had most certainly been dangerous…

"Mai." She snapped herself from her worried thoughts at the sound of her boss's voice coming from beyond the now closed door of his office.

"Yes, Naru?" she called back.

"Tea."

'_Jerk,'_ she thought sourly with a pout. Yeah, Naru was doing better. It would take a lot more than PK-induced exhaustion to override his seemingly programmed condescending demeanor.

At least there was a new case to look forward to, even if it was a construction site in the dead heat of summer.

Then a new realization occurred to her: Would there even be any _air conditioning_?

The whistle from the tea kettle startled her from the unpleasant train of thought.


	2. Case File 1 Pt 2

**Case File #1: Skeletons in the Closet  
>Part 2<strong>

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><p><strong>July<br>Day 1  
>9:27 AM<strong>

"A supposedly haunted construction site all the way out here in Meguro?" Houshou "Monk" Takigawa gave a yawn as he stretched, relieving the muscles cramped from the drive. He proceeded to chuckle as he pulled his arms up in the air. "Leave it to Naru to accept a case like this."

"I find it to be rather strange," the redheaded woman emerging from the second black van commented as she surveyed the site in evident distaste. "Why _Naru_ would want to investigate something as unrefined as _this_ is beyond me."

"What's so strange about it?" Osamu Yasuhara inquired, coming around from the other side. "Naru only takes cases he's interested in – you know that."

"Yes, but did it _have_ to be out here in this abominable heat?" she whined. "This humidity's going to ruin my hair!"

"Your _hair_?" The monk looked at her incredulously. "There are men who keep getting hurt around here and all you can think about is your –"

_WHACK!_

"_That'll_ teach you to underestimate a woman's sense of self-preservation," Ayako Matsuzaki huffed, slinging her purse over her shoulder.

Mai laughed nervously as Takigawa rubbed his head gingerly; she could clearly hear his muttered curses directed at the shrine maiden. No matter how irritating it tended to be though, it was still a welcome distraction.

It had only been yesterday that the team had gathered, the current absence of Masako and John being the only slight dent in Naru's intended schedule. Mr. Otanashi's directions and hotel bookings had come in the fax the evening prior, and everything seemed to be going smoothly, all things considered.

Until they all finally got a look at the construction site, that is.

Mai had seen construction sites all over the place since she was a little kid. Given that she'd grown up Tokyo, it was pretty hard _not_ to come across the inevitable scaffolds, metal supports, trucks, and sweaty workers. Even so, the mess that the two vans belonging to SPR pulled into that morning were not at all what she'd expected: cables were splayed in all directions, the electricians and their apprentices looking awkwardly at the mess they clearly hadn't created; carpenters frowned at the mess of wood and nails on the semi-finished parts of the building, and the man they took to be the foreman – an older man with a tanned and weatherworn face sporting an old grey work shirt and torn up jeans – was currently getting swamped by workers demanding accountability.

Overall, the place was in chaos.

"I wonder how we'll be able to set up our equipment with all the havoc," Mai said aloud, and cast an imploring look over to her boss, who was currently surveying the situation wearing his usual unreadable mask over his face. The only emotion she could even somewhat trace was the mild irritation she thought she saw sparking in his eyes before they settled down in their usual stormy countenance.

"_I_ wonder how we're going to get anything _done_," Takigawa groaned as he stepped up next to the brunette, still rubbing the place where Ayako's purse had landed. "Equipment setup aside, with all the work going on here and the obvious confusion, it'll take _forever_ to get things straight! And if we have to _exorcise_ anything – _argh_!"

Mai could understand his feelings in this matter – she knew for a fact that Monk was still having problems with his back since the events at the Yoshimi Inn. He kept mum about it, but it was no secret that he had a large bottle of over-the-counter painkillers – arthritis strength acetaminophen, from what she could deduce – stashed away in his belongings (Ayako's discovery of the fact was still ringing in Mai's ears). Just the idea of scaling even a portion of this mammoth, unfinished complex was enough to even make _her_ wince!

"Before we worry about that, we need to find out where they'd like us to set up base." Naru spoke just barely loud enough for them to hear over the din of the construction site. "After that, we'll take care of the equipment. Yasuhara –"

The aforementioned college student looked over Mai's head curiously. "Yeah?"

"Once we're set up, I want you to get a hold of all the information you can at the local public library. It's three blocks away from here and things don't look like they'll be settling down soon, so take as long as you need."

"Sure thing." He gave a smart salute behind the narcissist's back, earning a few giggles from Mai. It was nice having him along for the ride – in another month or so, Yasu would be stuck hitting the books again and out of the picture until the next break in semesters.

'_And so will I…'_ Mai groaned inwardly. _'I'm __**so**__ glad Yasu helped me out with all my summer homework before we took this case…'_

"You guys must be from that psychic research center Kazehiro was telling me about." The brunette snapped out of her thoughts to see the foreman walking up to them and waving. Behind him, she could see several of the workers casting glances in their direction and muttering amongst themselves before venturing off to their respectable work areas.

That usually happened on cases that involved a lot of people, she'd noticed.

The foreman gave them each an appraising look before stopping in front of Lin and extending a hand.

"You must be Mr. Kazuya Shibuya, I take it."

Lin looked down at the weathered man without expression. Not even a breath had passed before someone cleared their throat and said without emotion, "_I'm_ Kazuya Shibuya."

The foreman blinked incredulously in Naru's direction, then laughed nervously. "Oh, sorry about that. Kazehiro mentioned you were young – I guess I didn't really expect this. Please, forgive me."

As he bowed apologetically, Mai couldn't help but feel sympathy for him. It was common for people to mistaken Naru as an assistant, but she got the feeling that the older man really couldn't handle any more mishaps at the moment.

"I'm Umehito Sendo, the foreman on this jobsite," he said after straightening out. "I'm afraid you'll have to forgive me for the mess around here as well – we got to the site about three hours ago so that we could get things straightened out before you arrived and found this place in even worse shape than what you're seeing now, and we're _still_ coming across all sorts of complications." He looked back over to the group that had yet to disperse and frowned. "The men I just got done talking to are the carpenters we hired for the project. They said a lot of their equipment was either missing or broken, and they can't find much of their materials."

"Is this a common occurrence?" Naru inquired.

Sendo chuckled nervously and scratched a bit of his head from under the bright yellow hardhat he wore. "Well, if this were any other job site, I'd say 'no' automatically. We're pretty thorough about closing up the jobsite at the end of the day, so it's pretty rare that we have any problems. But this site takes the cake: every day since we started construction, it's been one weird occurrence after another. If it isn't an accident or equipment turning up in the wrong places, it's rooms that keep springing up where there aren't any and a whole bunch of other stuff that I've lost track of."

He shook his head and gave them a lopsided grin. "But right now you guys probably want to know where you can set up and start gathering information. I talked to Kazehiro after he got back from your office a couple days ago, and we decided it would be best to let you guys use the trailer he's currently holed up in. He and Old Hawkeye already moved out everything they need, so it's yours to use for as long as necessary."

"'Old Hawkeye'?" Mai raised an eyebrow. Sendo looked over to her and grinned, his weather-beaten and wrinkled face twisting up with amusement.

"That's the nickname we gave to Kazehiro's secretary. He's actually a pretty nice guy, but he's as sharp as they come. But he isn't what you're here for." He laughed and turned around, motioning for them to follow him as he proceeded to walk towards the center of the jobsite. "Before we get you settled in, I want to give you guys a quick tour of where you'll be investigating and point out the places we've had the most problems with. I'll also have to go over a few safety details just to keep the company covered – you know, the usual. And if there's anything else you want to know, feel free to ask."

"_He_ seems awfully receptive about all this," Mai heard Takigawa muse from behind her. "_Too_ receptive, if you ask me."

"The one time we don't have the management criticizing us, and you _complain_?" Ayako hissed.

"Well, _excuse_ me," the monk retorted under his breath. He continued to argue with the self-styled shrine maiden, but this time Mai chose to tune them out and instead attempted to listen as Umehito Sendo showed them around.

From what she gathered just by listening to him, the foreman not only enjoyed what he did for a living, but he took pride in looking after his workers. And it sounded like Mr. Otonashi was almost as involved with everything that went on as Sendo was. The fact that they were going out of their way to make sure SPR could operate while they could still get things done and in the safest way possible was admirable.

'_Even though it's a big company with so many people, it looks like they're really willing to work things out for everyone in the best way possible.'_ Mai felt herself smile a bit. _'It's a nice feeling, knowing that you have someone to back you up…'_

"Hey, kid!" Sendo suddenly barked, causing a majority of the team to jump back in surprise and Mai to snap out of her musings. Monk and Ayako were stunned out of their increasingly vehement argument. "Get the hell out of here! This isn't a playground!"

Mai's eyes flitted in the direction that the foreman was yelling in and was surprised to see a figure scrambling over a pile of metal support beams and jumping over the fence that separated the site from the main road.

"Young idiots… they're gonna get themselves hurt," she heard him mutter irritably. Mai looked over to find the older man shaking his head and motioning for them to continue. He sighed heavily. "Sorry about that, everyone. With all this weird stuff happening and the incident reports that we keep having turned in, the last thing I need is one of the local kids getting injured on the worksite before we have any answers."

"I can see why," Monk sympathized, putting his hands behind his head. "An average citizen getting hurt while all this is happening would only make it even more of a nightmare. _Especially_ if it happened to be a kid."

Sendo cocked an eyebrow as he turned in the bassist's direction. "You sound like you're speaking from experience."

"Well, yeah." Monk laughed sheepishly. "When I was a kid, I used to sneak out with my friends to goof off around at local construction sites near our school. The workers didn't seem to mind, but their bosses sure weren't happy about it. Funnily enough, my first-ever job was on a construction site after I moved out of the shrine."

"No way!" Mai looked at him in shock.

"Way," he affirmed with a grin. "C'mon, Mai, do you _honestly_ think the band I'm in just up and became popular overnight? We worked all through high school just to scrape up acts, and we had to support ourselves by doing whatever work we could find. After we started getting solid performance bookings, though, I gave up the construction job."

"Well, if you ever feel the urge to pick up a wrench and sledgehammer again, come and see us," Sendo said with a caustic laugh. "The way things are now, we need all the help we can get!"

"Why do you say that?" Mai asked.

Sendo shook his head. "I don't know if Kazehiro told you, but with all these unexplained accidents happening, we've had several of our workers request a leave of absence. There's a small housing project going on over in Aobadai, and I've been seeing a lot transfer requests to that site and even the one in Jiyūgaoka landing on my desk lately." He let out another long and heavy sigh. "Truthfully, I don't blame them. In all my years working for Tomei Construction, I've never had to deal with this kind of thing, and Kazehiro doesn't know what to do, either. We've lost a lot of good workers, and as a result we've fallen behind schedule; at this rate, we'll _never_ get this project finished. I ordinarily wouldn't have pushed so hard for a few days' site shutdown, but given the circumstances, it's the only real solution Kazehiro and I could come up with. Once the main office finds out, though… I don't even wanna think about it."

Mai frowned a bit to herself as they continued the tour of the worksite. From the way everything sounded, this was one case that had a lot more at stake than the people being attacked. The Yoshimis had the inn and their family to worry about, but Tomei Construction Company was dealing with a great deal more. It was all so complicated, but the one thing that held this and all other cases together was that it still boiled down to innocent, hardworking people getting hurt.

And these were people who had to stay on schedule in order to keep the main office from asking too many questions…

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><p><em><strong>AN: **__Special thanks to __**Torublossom**__ and __**Tbonechick2011**__ for your reviews – feedback is wonderful! Until the next chapter! ^_^_


	3. Case File 1 Pt 3

_**Author's Notes:**__ Wow, I'm really excited about the responses I'm getting so far! Thank you so much! _

_In regards to pairings, I'm going to see if I can pull off a few Mai/Naru moments here and there (I love those two together!), along with Ayako/Monk; possibly Masako/John and Lin/Madoka if I can (I have an OC, but who they happen to be "paired" with won't be revealed until much, much later – Yasuhara's going to be fun to deal with, though. LOL). ^_^_

_And now, on with __**Inception**__!_

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><p><strong>Case File #1: Skeletons in the Closet<br>Part 3**

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><p><strong>July<br>Day 1 (cont.)  
>6:35 PM<strong>

It was hard, so very hard not to burst out laughing.

Following Sendo's tour of the worksite, they'd all been gathered in the trailer Kazehiro Otanashi and his secretary, an unnervingly sharp and taciturn man named Obitsu Katagiri, shared (just as the foreman said, he really _was_ hawkeyed, if not _hawkish_, and watched them all with unwavering scrutiny. Mai had to keep herself from shuddering under his gaze). While there, they'd each been handed (or rather _shoved_, in Mai's opinion) a bright yellow hardhat with the company's slogan under the brim, similar to the one the foreman wore.

"While on-site, it's required that you wear a hardhat," Sendo explained. "I'd recommend boots and possibly knee-guards if you can, but the hardhat is a must. They're yours to keep, so consider it a souvenir."

He said it with a jovial laugh, as if to make them feel a bit more comfortable about their position. Given that they were going to be investigating a highly dangerous and unfinished construction site, Mai felt that whatever comfort the foreman had to offer was welcome.

It wasn't long after that Monk had managed to nab a permanent marker from somewhere in the office, and soon his hardhat sported the words **Property of SPR** in bold lettering on the front, and his band's emblem scribbled on the back. Despite the somewhat crude attempt at being artistic, he looked to be extraordinarily proud of himself and wore the yellow atrocity with gusto.

After base had been set up and they found the site still in process of being cleared of the morning's mysterious disaster, Naru begrudgingly allotted them some "free time". Everyone save their unsociable boss and Lin ventured into the small store one block over, Yasuhara going on ahead to do some research as Naru had ordered. While in the store, Mai and Monk discovered an assortment of stickers and various other tidbits that they deemed appropriate to use for the occasion of "personalizing" their souvenirs. When they returned with their package, they discovered John and Masako had already arrived… and they too received their hardhats.

Mai personally wasn't too irked by the necessity of the uncomfortable headgear; after all, it was necessary for their protection while on the jobsite and it was awfully nice of Sendo to have retrieved them from the company's own on-site stock. Ayako and Masako, on the other hand, didn't share in the sentiment and preferred to openly reject their hardhats, the petite medium surprisingly coming out the most vehement (though it was hardly surprising, being as not only was she condemned to wearing the unsightly headgear, but she was forced to trade in her kimono for a pair of jeans, an old shirt, and sneakers). It was Mai's impression that the only reason Ayako hadn't continued her rant on damaged hair was because she realized the necessity of the offending object in regards to their safety.

And so it was now that they sat in the office while they each continued his or her own individual "personalization" of the hats, Yasuhara having only just recently returned from his trip to the local public library and currently engaging John and Takigawa in a semi-competition of which hat looked the most original. The competition was mostly limited to the monk and the college student, as John had only chosen to sign his name on one side and a small prayer in Latin on the back. Mai fought with herself in an attempt not to laugh as Yasu had seen fit to put stick-on bullet holes onto his, one being in the exact center of the forehead (which he claimed to be a "bull's-eye").

She looked at her own, now adorned with a few nondescript flowers of random colors, and couldn't help but enjoy herself just a little bit. It was moments like these that made her feel like she was a part of a family again.

It was a good feeling.

And it was soon shattered by one particular narcissist's sudden interruption of: "If you're all finished with acting in accordance to your presumable mental ages, it's time we got started with the investigation."

Mai shot him an evil look, and she was certain she wasn't the only one.

"Aw, live a little, Naru!" Monk laughed, pulling his graffiti-laden hardhat on and cocking it at an angle. "We're all stuck wearing these things, so why not have some fun?"

"We're here to investigate," Naru reminded him, if not the entire group. "If you want to go out and play in the sand, please feel free to do so when you aren't on SPR's time."

The room fell silent, and once again the air felt as if it had been overtaken by some dark force of nature. If there was one thing Mai couldn't stand (and there was a long list of the "one thing" nature, when she got right down to it), it was Naru's ability to crash the proverbial party.

Certain that he now had everyone's attention, the black-clad youth continued.

"Now then, this is what we're going to do: Monk and Ms. Matsuzaki will investigate the first and second levels of the business section of the complex. Yasuhara will accompany you."

The three nodded in agreement.

"Father Brown and Ms. Hara will take the same levels of the residential section. Lin and I will investigate the basement levels of both. And Mai –"

"I know," the brunette interrupted. Oh boy did she know. "I stay here at base, right?"

"That's right. And stay awake, if you can." He smirked slightly at her indignant reaction before returning his gaze to the others. "I shouldn't have to say this, but considering Ms. Hara and Father Brown weren't here and I doubt the rest of you were listening the entire time –" he looked again in Mai's direction, and received an even darker glare in return – "I will reiterate what Mr. Sendo told us earlier:

"Under no circumstances is anyone to go above the third level of either side of the complex. As was explained, only half of each third level is completed, so if you choose to go that far, do so with extreme caution. Do not wander alone, and make sure you have either a cell phone or walkie-talkie on you at all times. Whether there is spiritual activity or not, this is still a construction site and we're being treated as visitors for the duration of our stay. Keep this in mind as you do your walkthrough."

They _would_ keep it in mind, of that Mai was certain. From the moment Sendo had uttered the policy, "under no circumstances will the company held responsible for any injuries visitors may acquire while on the jobsite," they'd _all_ clammed up in a moment's unbearable tension.

Put succinctly, the construction company wouldn't be paying for a stay in the hospital. And anyone who thought SPR would readily cover medical bills for its employees was sorely mistaken: individual medical insurance was the best any of them could rely upon. Even though Mai was covered under Japan's health insurance program, those bills were still expensive.

**…**

_Mai blinked a few times to clear her vision before she realized where she was. The darkened backdrop and the glow she could see emanating from her body were clear indications that she was dreaming again._

'But what happened?'_ she couldn't help but wonder. _'The last thing I remember was sitting at the desk and waiting for Naru and Lin to get back…

'Speaking of narcissists…'

_She sensed the presence coming from behind. She really didn't need to, but she turned around anyway, finding the warm smile of her usual guide greeting her once again._

_It was a shame Naru couldn't smile like that in reality…_

"_We don't have a lot of time, Mai," he said, the smile suddenly wavering a bit._

_Mai couldn't help but giggle. "When do we ever?" _

'Why can't we have these moments when I awake and not just when I'm dreaming?'

_The smile grew warm again as he extended a hand in her direction. Taking the offered appendage willingly, Mai moved forward quickly before falling into the same pace as he._

"_What's going to happen now?" she asked after a moment's silence. "You guide me whenever I come here, right? So that must mean there's something going on at the construction site that I need to know about."_

_Dream Naru turned and gave her another heartwarming smile. "That's right, but this time it's a little… __**different**__."_

_Mai stumbled. "What do you mean 'different'?"_

_They stopped, the brunette nearly running into her guide. Looking down a little, Dream Naru pointed. Cinnamon-colored eyes followed in the direction he indicated, and her brow creased in confusion._

_Just below them was the business half of the skeletal building. From their position above, Mai could make out Ayako and Takigawa as they made their walkthrough, and clearly going against Naru's orders: the miko looked to be somewhere on the second floor, near to where the last completed set of offices were; the monk was on the unfinished third level. Yasuhara was on the first level, apparently observing one of the panel boxes left behind by the electricians. Masako and John were nowhere to be found, but Mai remembered that they'd been ordered to check out the residential side of the complex. _

_All-in-all, it looked to be a routine sweep of their location, although she knew the three in the business section would be scolded once Naru found out they'd gone against the standard procedure again. _

'Except…'

_Except there were a multitude of tiny white lights gently floating about, a few making an effort to avoid the humans among them. And in several areas, Mai could make out higher concentrations of the orbs, looking as if they were just large masses and not clusters of the tiny lights._

_But what caused her to fret even more than the characteristic orbs that would normally accompany her psychic dreams was that in one unfinished area, not far from where Monk was currently heading in the direction of, there was a strange swirling pattern of lights, their focal point a barely visible pulsation._

"_What's going on in that area on the third floor?" she inquired, looking up to her guide for an answer._

_Dream Naru's face remained untroubled, although she could have sworn she caught a bit of a smirk threatening to overtake his features._

"_Is Monk in danger if he goes near there?" she pressed, grasping onto his jacket. She didn't know if it was her instinct talking or what, but she was getting a mixed reaction from the epicenter of the swirling orbs._

"_No. At least not life-threatening danger," Dream Naru said after a moment. The smirk tugged on the side his mouth again, as if he was enjoying some kind of internal joke. "But it's important that everyone watches over the cause of that swirling, Mai. There's more to the circumstances and events surrounding this case than meets the eye, though it may not dawn on everyone until much later."_

_Mai was confused. Why was Dream Naru talking in riddles? He was usually a bit more helpful than this. __**Now**__ he was acting…_

_**Evasive?**_

"_Someone was here before us."_

"_What?" she looked up at him in utter confusion, but found him to be looking back at the swirling pattern Takigawa was getting closer to. She opened her mouth to demand an answer, when she was halted by someone singing:_

"_Go, go, beauty, round, round, nothing's gonna stop…"_

_Dream Naru smiled apologetically in the brunette's direction. "I'm sorry, but I have to leave now. Wake up, Mai… it's time to wake up…"_

**…**

**…**

**…**

"Wake up, Mai… gotta get up… huh?" her head snapped up and she looked around frantically, surprised to find upon awakening that no one had returned to base. Not only that, but it had grown considerably darker outside the office trailer. It was good thing they'd left the lights on, or else she'd have awakened to brightly glowing computer and televisions screen in a pitch-black backdrop. "That's weird…"

"What's weird?" Mai let out an automatic squeak upon hearing her boss's voice right behind her. Looking around and upward, she found him peering down at her, not amused in the slightest though perhaps a bit curious in spite of himself. "Did you have one of your dreams again?"

'_Typical. He never cares about how __**I**__ am – just how __**useful**__ I can be!'_

Irritation flitted across his face at her lack of an answer. "I don't think I pay you to sleep on the job, Mai," he said icily, eyes finally tearing away from her as he made his way back to his seat. Lin followed close behind, silent as usual.

'_No,__** I**__ think you only pay me to serve __**you**__ tea.'_ Mai seethed as soon as she was certain he wouldn't hear her, should any of her thoughts have chosen to escape through her mouth. She sighed when no repercussion came. _'Speaking of which, I'd better go make some.'_

She was barely out of her seat when Takigawa's voice suddenly came in over the radio:

"_Hey, is anyone hearing the same thing I am?"_

The room went silent as Lin quickly turned up the audio coming from the camera nearest to Monk's position. They could barely make it out, but the voice was there, almost haunting…

"_Go, go, beauty, round, round, nothing's gonna stop…"_

Mai dashed out of base without a second thought, her hardhat long forgotten as she made her way towards the monk's location. She didn't even hear her boss's voice as he called out after her, nor was she aware of the pounding footfall behind her.

'_That's the exact same song and voice I heard in my dream!'_

* * *

><p><em><strong>AN:**__ The line "Go, go, beauty, round, round, nothing's gonna stop," is from the song __**独壇場 **__**Beauty**__ (Dokudanjou Beauty) by Buck-Tick._

_Special thanks goes out to __**TheAmateurArtist**__, __**Aoi Kitsukawa**__,__** Tbonechick2011**__,__**Torublossom**__, __**Forestfirekid**__, __**rika-carol**__, and __**Foxgrl18**__ for the reviews, favs, and alerts – I'm really glad you're enjoying the story so far! Until the next chapter! ^_^_


	4. Case File 1 Pt 4

_**Author's Notes:**__ Hi, everyone! I'm really excited that there are so many people enjoying the story so far. Sorry I didn't get this done sooner – it took a bit longer than previous chapters. _

_Time to see what happens next! Enjoy!_

* * *

><p><strong>Case File #1: Skeletons in the Closet<br>Part 4**

* * *

><p><strong>July<br>Day 1 (cont.)  
>9:53 PM<strong>

All Mai could think about was the voice she'd heard coming from the radio and the one she'd heard in her dream. There was no possible way that this could be a coincidence – she'd had too many experiences with her psychic dreams and her oneiric guide to readily discount what she saw in her sleep. Something was up there, and it was causing the spirits to act strangely. She didn't know what it was, but she wasn't willing to let Monk find out if it was malevolent the hard way.

She skidded to a stop somewhere in the first-floor hall and realization suddenly dawned on her: she had absolutely no idea where she was going.

"Dashing out like that and then realizing you're lost isn't exactly an intelligent act, Mai," she scolded herself aloud. For a moment there, she thought she'd turned into Naru.

"My thoughts exactly."

She let out a yelp and spun around, finding the narcissist himself standing behind her with his arms folded and glaring at her crossly. It was bad enough on a normal basis, but the lighting provided by the widely distributed floodlights left over by the work crew made his face look all the more sinister.

"Na-Naru!" she gasped. "What are doing?" _'When did __**he**__ get here?'_

"Making sure you don't do anything else stupid," he replied coldly, and strode up to her, eyes not even blinking. When he lifted his hand up, she involuntarily winced.

Then she felt something settle on her head.

Blinking, Mai looked upward and discovered a yellow bill poking over her bangs. She felt her face heat up upon the realization that it _wasn't hers_. _Her_ hat had a few pink daisies and her signature placed under the bill so she wouldn't get it confused with Ayako's, which also sported a flower-scattered pattern (Masako's was too intricate and _refined_ to be mistaken for anyone else's – the medium had procured the only sakura sticker packages they'd been able to find).

'_Oh my god… this is __**Naru's**__ hat…'_

"You left your hardhat at base, dummy," he explained, pulling his flashlight from his pocket. "Now, come on. We're only a few doors away from the finished service stairwell, and that'll take us to where Takigawa is."

She took just a moment to glare at him over her newly acquired blush before following close behind. In a matter of second, they were ascending a set of concrete stairs that wound about in an eerily lit stairwell, the only light coming from Naru's flashlight and the multiple floodlights hanging from the railing. The lights were bright here, but it didn't change the fact that it was creepy. There were too many long shadows being cast about for her to feel even remotely at ease.

They were barely past the second floor when a person with dark red hair collided into Mai, followed by someone whose glasses glinted briefly before he was pulled into the pile when a pale hand flew out and grabbed the front of his shirt for support. Mai let out a loud shriek as she found herself falling, and squeaked when she felt someone grasp her wrist and yank her back sharply before the two forms crushed her into the landing. An arm slinked around her waist to give her much-needed support from the sudden movement.

Ayako let out a low moan and blinked several times before a scowl presented itself on her face. The angered look only increased when the young man who'd ended up on top of her grinned in mock lechery.

"Why, Ayako, I must say I'm surprised. Never had I imagined that you and I would find ourselves in such a predicament. What would Takigawa say?"

The bright red splash of color that went over the priestess's face was unprecedented in its similarity to the shade of a ripe tomato. But the utter fury in her eyes quashed the embarrassment of being trapped beneath the college student.

"I will only say this once: if you do not get off me Osamu Yasuhara, you will be in _serious_ trouble," she hissed through clenched teeth.

Quickly getting the picture, Yasu jumped up and extended a hand to the self-styled miko. As she pulled herself up, he chuckled nervously.

"Let's just keep this a secret from our darling Takigawa. No need to make him wonder if his significant other is being unfaithful – which of course I'm not," he joked half-heartedly, receiving another livid glare in return from Ayako.

There was a low and almost unnoticeable groan of irritation from behind. Mai's entire body went stiff upon feeling warm breath against the exposed bit of the back of her neck, and it was only then that she realized that she was pressed up against something. A hesitating look down to the appendage still wrapped around her waist revealed a black-clad arm and a pale hand grasping onto her so she wouldn't fall.

"If you two are finished goofing around, would you care to explain why you all aren't together?" Naru's voice demanded from just behind.

Yasuhara laughed nervously again. "Ah, well… you see –"

Whatever ready-made excuse the flippant college student might have had for his narcissistic superior was instantly shoved aside as the sound of the monk's yelling interrupted them, followed by an almost inhuman shriek and loud _thud_.

Mai didn't have time to think twice; no sooner had they heard the noise, the entire group charged forward, crashing into the shadow-laden main hallway of the unfinished third floor. She was only barely conscious of an uncomfortable pressure on her wrist, becoming more aware of the sensation upon realizing that Naru was dragging her along in the front, flashlight moving all over in search of the source of the commotion.

It seemed like an eternity before they could make out more sounds: a low moaning and what sounded like quiet but frantic mutterings.

The source came from a small room on the left, the only indication of anyone's presence being the rolling light along the uncarpeted floor. The group rushed into the room, stopping abruptly at the scene bathed in dim yellow color:

Takigawa lay on the floor in a heap, clutching his uncovered head and shaking in evident pain, blood trickling between his fingers; his hardhat lay off to the side, the bold words **Property of SPR** barely visible in its position. Plastered in the corner opposite of the injured bassist was a small and nervous figure clutching a bright white pipe in their half-gloved hands. Dark eyes were fixated upon the man's pitiful form.

"H-hey, this is your fault!" the person in the corner squeaked. "If you hadn't freaked me out like that, I wouldn't have had to hit you!"

"What are you doing in here?" Naru demanded, his grip no longer on Mai's wrist as he stepped into the room. His eyes were narrowed in the perpetrator's direction. "This is private property."

The light from Naru's flashlight, along with the beams from those belonging to the rest of them (save Takigawa), hit the person in the corner, revealing what looked to be a frightened youth of about Mai's age. Their eyes widened into what could only be classified as "a deer caught in headlights" upon falling on the group standing in the middle of the room's only exit.

But the horrified stare didn't land on the group in its entirety; rather, it was focused upon one person in particular. The moment Naru spoke to the frightened person, the intruder's eyes widened even more to the point Mai thought they'd pop out. The pipe slipped out from the wallflower's violently shaking hands.

"Wh-what the… n-no way," the youth muttered, tensing visibly . "I thought…" Their voice trailed off.

Mai could only watch as some kind of intense staring match sparked between the two, her condescending boss practically boring a hole into the stranger. It was only during this exchange that the brunette suddenly realized that she recognized the frozen youth.

"Hey, you're the person from before!" Mai piped up, earning a quick and disapproving, albeit unnoticed glare from Naru. "The one Mr. Sendo was yelling at earlier this morning!"

The spell was broken. The stranger looked over in the brunette's direction, surprise evident. Puzzlement spread across the shadowed face, as well as slight apprehension. "Yeah, but how'd _you_ know?"

"Who are you? And what are you doing on a construction site in the middle of the night?" Naru interrupted, stormy blue eyes narrowed in the perpetrator's direction once more. He'd deal with Mai later. Right now, he had an interference to deal with.

"I could ask you the same question," the intruder slowly replied with a strange but decidedly steely look aimed in the black-clad teen's direction. Mai astonished by sudden realization: not only was this person acting totally unaffected by Naru's sharp inquiry despite the earlier silent altercation, but they sounded distinctly… _female_.

"Were you the one singing earlier?" Mai asked, choosing to ignore the look of heightened irritation coming from her employer.

The stranger giggled nervously and rubbed the back of her (yes _her_, Mai was certain) neck. "Yeah, that was me," she admitted. "I tend to do that a lot. It's a habit I've had for a while now."

"Is punching people and hitting them with a piece of construction material a habit, too?" Takigawa moaned. Ayako had gotten over the shock of seeing another living person outside of the SPR group long enough to have gone to his side and was now helping him to sit up, Yasuhara aiding in the effort.

The girl gave another nervous, albeit almost hysterical giggle and cringed visibly. "No, not exactly… that was more of a reflex, actually… hehehe… You kind of freaked me out back there."

"All I did was walk in the room…"

"And holler loudly when you noticed I was in here," the intruder pointed out, now leaning against the wall with her arms folded. There was an odd look on her face a creased between her brows, almost as if she was assessing her current situation. "I didn't think I hit you _that_ hard though…" She bit her lip worriedly. Mai could almost see the gears turning in the stranger's mind.

"Again, would you mind explaining _why_ you're traipsing on private property _in the middle of the night?_" Naru demanded a third time, his arms now folded and fingers tapping against his forearms impatiently – a clear indication that he was _not_ pleased with this new turn of events.

What he received in return was a blatantly cold and harsh glare. Mai had no clue what happened, but the intruder's initial fear had suddenly been converted into animosity.

"Hey, why don't you interrogate me at some other point? Don't take it the wrong way, it's just I'd be more worried about that guy, if I were you." She jerked a thumb in the direction of Takigawa, who was obviously still dazed from the blow. "I _did_ hit him with a nice piece GRP piping, after all."

Naru's eyes narrowed in consideration. Not long after, he nodded his consent and called in over his cell phone an order for Lin to get a first-aid kit ready, as well as his laptop and some paper. Ayako and Yasu helped the injured monk up, staggering as they found his balance to be horribly off thanks to the blow to his head.

The intruder in the corner winced visibly. There was evident guilt in her features as she followed the unsteady trio trudging out into the hallway. Naru took up the rear, pushing his brunette assistant in front of him and muttering almost incoherently under his breath, although the words "interruptions", "idiots", and "breaking procedure" could be made out in amidst the near-silent ranting.

Mai couldn't help but feel sorry for the girl they'd just encountered. She was beginning to feel sorry for the others and herself as well. Judging by the look she'd seen in Naru's eyes before he pushed her out the door, he wasn't going to make things easy for any of them.

Then again, he never did.

**…**

Now that they were in a brightly lit area and everything had calmed down some, Mai discovered that their new "acquaintance" seemed to know just how to trick people who weren't paying close attention: even without the navy beanie she'd been wearing, it was an easy thing to mistaken the girl for being a boy, seeing as her unruly chestnut brown hair was cut short with bangs that fell into the darkest of green eyes. She sported an oversized light jacket, which was baggy enough to mislead anyone who cast a casual glance and neatly covered the blue-grey tank that subtly accentuated the fact she had a fairly decent female figure for her age. The sturdy boots she wore certainly helped to fool as well, though the legs encased in faded and torn straight-leg jeans were too nice to belong to a boy. But once a person looked beyond all that, they would see a girl who was a bit on the thin but wiry side, and looked a bit rough around the edges if Mai were any judge of appearances. She also had circles under her eyes, and looked tired despite the energy and spirit she'd shown in the room on the third floor.

And she was acting highly guarded, all traces of previous fear now traded in for a mask of the defensive nature.

Then again, Mai supposed she couldn't blame the girl for that.

"All right, now that Takigawa's being taken care of –" Naru's words were accentuated by a loud yelp as Ayako lightly dabbed at the cut on the monk's head with a cotton ball of alcohol. "– I want you to explain what you were doing up there in the middle of the night, and how you managed to slip past our cameras and audio equipment."

The suspect sitting in Obitsu Katagiri's desk chair raised an eyebrow in mild amusement. In this movement, Mai suddenly became aware of how light the girl's brows were. Certainly it wasn't a natural combination, light eyebrows and dark hair. Scratch that – it _wasn't_ a natural combination. "You guys have cameras set up around here? Jeez, even the cops didn't do that when they were patrolling the area a few weeks ago from what I'd heard. Who are you people? Are you with Naichō or the PSIA? Or some other agency I haven't heard of?"

"Shibuya Psychic Research Center, or SPR for short," Naru replied, eyes fixated on the subject with Mai could only assume was the will to unnerve. It didn't seem to be working to its full extent, although the corner of the girl's mouth appeared to have twitched minutely before reverting back into a slightly amused smirk. The only real reaction Mai could detect was an odd flicker pass over the girl's face when Naru said they were psychic researchers. "I'm Kazuya Shibuya, the director."

"Somehow, that doesn't exactly surprise me," the girl responded slowly, observing the black-clad teen with guarded eyes. "But what's a psychic research group doing in a place like this?"

"We were hired by the construction company to investigate the cause of unexplained incidents happening on the site."

She seemed to relax to this answer. "Oh, you mean like the frostbite and burns and how that funny room keeps popping up?"

The room froze, and suddenly everyone was staring unabashedly at their uninvited guest. The lack of typing indicated that Lin had ceased his usual activity in favor of the communal gawking as well (though in Lin's case, "gawking" consisted of sitting up a bit straighter with an eyebrow raised).

It was all very unnerving.

The girl looked around, eyebrow cocked this time with the look of amusement mixed in with slight suspicion and traces of renewed apprehension. "You guys are looking at me like I've grown a second head or something. Am I really all that interesting, or was it something I said?"

"How did you know about the strange happenings going on here at the construction site?" John asked from his position on the couch next to Takigawa.

The girl blinked incredulously. "You mean you didn't know? Everybody's been talking non-stop about the weird stuff going on around here for a long time now. Considering this is a relatively small community in comparison to the rest of Tokyo, news travels pretty fast. I've only been back in the neighborhood for a little over a week and I can tell you a whole bunch of stuff that's supposedly happened around here. And I can actually confirm some of the stories."

"Such as…" Yasu prompted from over Mai's shoulder.

"Well, I take it you guys have heard about the rooms appearing in random places and disappearing the morning after? And how they're always furnished?" They nodded. "_That_ part is true… to an extent: I actually decided to spend the night in one of those pop-up rooms, and wound up conking out in an armchair just before the sun came up. The next thing I knew, I was propped up in the basement about five minutes later.

"I know I wasn't moved, because the room I was in happened to be on the fifth floor of the business section," she continued, eyes darting in the direction of the clacking of Lin's rapidly typing fingers. "After I got myself straightened out, I went back up and couldn't find the room again. And I never saw any of the furniture after that, either."

"Do you remember which part of the fifth floor this room was in?" Naru inquired.

The girl nodded. "Sure do. Fifth floor, business section; if you take the southern staircase – the one you guys decided to go down to get back here – you go down the corridor from there and turn into the second hallway on your right. The room's at the end of a hallway on the left, just after the third alcove they've got set up for I guess a water fountain. From the size of it, I'd say it's going to be a conference room or something – that room is pretty big."

"How long ago did this occur?" the youth questioned further.

"I'd say the night after I first got into the neighborhood. And in case you're wondering, I went back the next evening after the site shut down to see if I could find the room again."

"And did you?"

"Yeah, and I've been doing this every night since then. So far, I've noticed something that I think the construction guys missed."

"And what might that be?" asked the narcissist.

The girl leaned back in her chair and gazed at her interrogator levelly.

"From what I've heard, everyone seems to think it's a different room that appears each time, and always at random," she explained. "That's where they're wrong. I can't tell you just how 'random' the appearances are, but I _can_ tell you that it isn't a bunch of different rooms, _it's same damn room each time_."

"Wait… you mean it's just one room that crops up anywhere in the complex?" Mai felt a sliver of fear begin to embed itself inside of her.

The girl nodded. "Yeah, although I can't say that it shows up just _anywhere_. To tell you the truth, I haven't seen much happen on the residential side of the site – it seems like most of what goes on happens on the business side. That's just from what I've observed so far, though."

"How long have you been making these observations?"

"I already told you: I've been hanging around for a little over a week or so," she said with a frown.

"Have there been any other people on-site with you? A friend or someone who happened to be 'exploring' the complex at the same time?"

"Huh? No, there hasn't been anyone around here, at least not to my knowledge. Nobody wants to come anywhere near this place at night. Maybe a few people might have a couple months ago, but not now."

"But you're positive that in your 'observations' you took into consideration all the aspects of each situation? Lighting, time, the amount of rest you had…?"

There was a hard edge taking over in the girl's eyes as they narrowed into slits. "Just what are you implying?"

"I'm merely taking all accounts into consideration and processing them accordingly," Naru replied in the tone of voice that made it sound as if he was explaining the obvious. "When an individual brings forth information without corroborating witness accounts, it's unwise to handle the information as fact until there is more evidence to substantiate the story."

That only infuriated the newcomer even further. "Well, excuse me, but considering the fact that I'm not the only person who's seen this room, wouldn't it make sense to use it as supplementary information at the very least?"

"Being as you're the only one to have seen the room at night to the best of our current knowledge, your account stands free from the others. Until we have another nighttime encounter to compare yours to, there is no supporting evidence, though I will take any information you can provide in regards to this case."

"Why you overbearing pompous _a_–"

"Okay, okay," the ever-interfering college student broke through, raising his hands in protest. "Let's all settle down and get along."

"Fine, but tell the Prince of Darkness over there to lay off with the questioning and to get off his high-horse," the girl huffed, shooting another glare in the narcissist's direction – an action that was automatically returned.

"You'll have to forgive the boss here," Yasu apologized with a short bow. "It's just that you can't blame him for being suspicious – after all, you _are_ intruding on an investigation."

"Yeah, I guess you're right," the girl sighed. She closed her eyes and leaned back into the chair, allowing herself to relax slightly from her defensive tension. "Sorry. It's just that I'm not too keen on being around strange people either, and considering our situation, it's only natural you'd all be suspicious of me."

"And vice versa," Yasu chuckled. The girl opened her eyes again and permitted herself a crooked grin.

"Yeah."

"Would you mind at least telling me your name?" Naru said, allowing himself to be overruled in favor of controlling his blood pressure for the time being. He was beginning to feel caffeine withdrawal from dealing with this nuisance.

"Katsumi Shinomori," replied the girl. "But most people just call me Katsu."

"Shinomori…" everyone turned to find Masako having at long last entered the conversation. Her dark eyes looked curiously over the sleeve of her kimono, which hid the lower portion of her face. "That sounds like a familiar name."

"Maybe, but there's probably a whole bunch of people named 'Shinomori' running around Japan," the girl now identified as Katsu said with a shrug. "But I don't usually pay attention to that kind of thing. Too many people to get mixed up when you start worrying about family names." She gave them all a curious look. "But I wouldn't mind knowing who all you people are."

"Of course. I'm Osamu Yasuhara," Yasu said with a bow. "But you can call me Yasu. Kazuya already told you who he is. This girl here –" he yanked Mai by the shoulders. She gave Katsu a shy smile and a wave. "– is Mai Taniyama. She's really nice and works as Kazuya's slave – I mean _assistant_." He grinned widely as Mai elbowed him in the stomach. "That tall, dark, and silent guy over at the computers is Lin Koujo, Kazuya's other assistant." Lin didn't even so much as hum a response. "The guy you hit over the head is my lover Houshou Takigawa –"

Katsu sputtered and nearly fell out of her seat. "Wait, _**what?**_"

Yasu grinned evilly. "Yup. We've been a couple for, oh, I'd say half a year now."

"No we're not! Would you cut it out already, Yasu?" Monk growled from his spot on the couch. "That isn't even _funny_!"

"And here I thought you loved me." The college student put on a fake pout.

"I'm John Brown," the blond young man in the back greeted her. He put a hand on the kimono girl's shoulder. "And this Masako Hara."

"From TV?" Katsu blinked. "Wow. A celebrity." She looked over to Ayako. "And you are…?"

The redhead made a move to answer, but Monk beat her to it.

"That's Ayako Matsuzaki, an old-as-the-hills fake Shinto shrine maiden who thinks everything is attributed to –" _WHACK!_ "Hey! Cut it out! Can't you see I'm already injured?"

"Oh, I'm so _sorry_," she said airily, her handbag dangling almost innocently from clasped hands. "It's just that from the way you were talking, I just assumed that you were fully recovered."

"Sure… you just _assumed_ that with all your background medical knowledge…" the monk growled.

Katsu looked at Mai incredulously as the two continued to bicker. "Are they always like this?"

"Yeah, pretty much," the brunette admitted sheepishly with a laugh. Katsu seemed to relax a bit at that.

"Enough," Naru snapped, bringing the small business trailer back to semi-order. Silence fell again. With a mentally resigned sigh, he returned to speaking with the intruder. "Now, Miss Shinomori, about the rest of your observations…?"

"Huh?" She blinked before recalling the conversation. "Oh, yeah. I've got a few notes in my bag if you want to see them, but I stashed it under the sheetrock leaning up against the eastern fence for safekeeping, so I've still got to go and get it." Her eyes slid away and her gaze fell on the computer monitors above where Lin was sitting. The Chinese man had gone back to his habitual typing.

Naru pulled out a black folder and turned his attention to its contents before speaking. "Fine. I'll have someone go with you to collect your bag. After I've gone through your notes and the rest of your observation, however, you'll have to leave."

Katsu muttered something, but he didn't catch what it was.

"You're trespassing on private property, not to mention –" Naru looked up and frowned upon realizing he didn't have her undivided attention. "Miss Shinomori, are you even _listening_ to me?"

"That thing wasn't there before," she remarked cryptically, blatantly ignoring her interrogator.

"Miss Shinomori…" He tried again, not at all amused at being brushed off so easily.

"No, seriously: _that_ wasn't in that place before." Without any further comment, she pointed in the direction of the monitor she'd been staring at.

Several sets of eyes followed in the direction of her uncovered finger, all training on the monitor sitting on the third shelf, two places away from left end. The screen quivered and danced with snowy static, and the image slightly distorted. It was a camera from one of the rooms somewhere on the second floor of the business section, according to the small label Lin had placed on the frame. As the group watched, they could just make out several dark forms flitting across the static-laden screen, and the camera shook violently when several darted too close.

And then it cleared, and the room was still. The only indication of anything having happened was the camera now faced a different direction and the overhead floodlight was rocking to-and-fro.

"Uh… What was that just now?" Yasuhara asked, clearly confused by the footage. "Did we accidentally pick up the local cable channels or something?"

"No," Lin spoke at last. "That was a direct feed from the room the camera's hooked into. We shouldn't be experiencing any interference whatsoever." He looked suspiciously in Katsu's direction.

The girl threw her hands up in mock defense. "Hey, don't look at me. I didn't even know you people were here – much less packing cameras and audio equipment – until just now!" He remained silent, but didn't press any further.

"And while we're on the subject, could someone tell me what _that_ is doing in a _business office_?" Katsu walked up to the screen and pointed again, this time the extreme left of the image.

"What is it?" Ayako asked, leaning in for a closer looker.

John found himself the closest to where Katsu pointed, and squinted his eyes. "I think," he said after a moment, "that it's a closet."

"A _closet?_"

Naru and Lin had to refrain from visibly wincing at the group's loud outburst.

"Like I said: What the hell is _that_ doing there?" Katsu repeated, turning back to the team. "That's one of the regular offices, and _none_ of them have sliding-door closets."

"Now that you mention it, I didn't see any on the first floor…" Yasu said slowly, tapping his chin in thought.

"Neither did any of the other offices on the second floor," Ayako added.

"And the only closets I saw on the third floor were for custodial workers," Monk concluded, leaning heavily against John and Yasuhara as he looked at the screen before sinking back onto the couch. His speech came out slurred; the left side of his face was swollen from the hit Kastu landed.

Naru gave the girl a sharp look. "Was this something you'd experienced before?"

Katsu frowned in thought. "Maybe… " she said slowly. "But I'm really not all that sure. I don't _think_ I've ever seen _closets_ manifesting all over the place, but I could be mistaken. I was too engrossed with room-hunting, so I wouldn't consider myself to be all that reliable in answering that."

He nodded slowly, accepting the honesty of her answer. "Your input may or not be helpful, but I would like to see what notes you have immediately, and get this interview over with. Even after I do though, Miss Shinomori, I can't permit you to stay. You're trespassing, and no one outside of SPR has permission to be here. I'll have Lin escort you to the gate and make sure you walk down the block safely."

Katsu's eyes narrowed.

"Wait, you actually expect me to leave just like that? Let you take my information and throw me out without an argument? Are you kidding me? Not only is there something weird going on around here, there's an actual paranormal investigation team involved now! Like _hell_ I'm just going to walk away when things get interesting – I want in!"

"No," the narcissist said bluntly.

The girl scowled fiercely at the black-clad youth. If glares could be given by normal individuals to the same extent Naru was able to deliver them, Katsu Shinomori was living proof that it could indeed be done.

"Look, Mr. I'm-in-Charge, I've been around here long enough to have a pretty good idea of the general layout of the complex and can confirm where a lot of the activity's been. Besides," she added, staring into his eyes as if to issue a great challenge, "I think it would only be appropriate that I offer my assistance in addition to my information, seeing as I incapacitated one of your team members nearly half an hour ago."

"I'll say," Monk groaned from his spot back on the couch. He grimaced as he offered the interloper a rather lopsided grin. "I have to admit, though: I'm impressed. You've got a mean right hook!"

Katsu cracked a smirk in return. "Thanks." She then turned her gaze back on the team leader. "Well? How about it? If you don't like what I have to offer, you're free to give me the boot. It's not like I'm asking to get paid or anything."

Naru paused to consider the information.

"I say let her in," Yasuhara declared after a brief moment's silence. Upon finding the whole team's eyes and those of Katsu upon him, he cleared his throat. "Look at it this way: this jobsite is over the property of an old building that appears to have had a relatively long and involved history based on the information I've collected in just one afternoon. If anything, I could really use the assistance in gathering information and sorting it out. Anything Katsu has to offer may just make things go faster."

"And let's not forget the fact that she managed to get into the complex and onto the unfinished third floor without anyone noticing it," Lin offered, though his voice held an accusatory quality to it.

"Something you haven't yet explained to us, Miss Shinomori," said Naru, giving her a probing look.

This time she slumped in her seat and sighed in exasperation. The movement gave Mai the impression that the girl was a lot more tired than she appeared. "Honestly, guys, I have absolutely no idea how your cameras couldn't have seen me. I mean, I know all sorts of ways to get through this half-cocked maze of a construction site, but I _don't_ know where the heck you put all your equipment, so it's not like I did it intentionally. I had absolutely no idea that the company hired somebody after the cops left. If I had an explanation as to how that happened, I'd give it; but, unfortunately, I don't."

Again, Mai noticed something off: while it sounded as if the girl was telling the truth, something in her eyes spoke differently. There was a spark, almost one of fear… like she didn't want something to be found out. Or there was something she wasn't sure of.

'_Odd…'_

One look in his direction gave her the suspicion that Naru had noticed it as well. She wasn't sure how she knew, given his usual lack of expression. It was just a feeling, and her feelings were frighteningly accurate.

The narcissist sighed.

"All right. Tonight, I want all the information you've collected in regards to your experiences. Tomorrow, I'll have you intermittently working with Mai during equipment checks in order to get you acquainted with our routines. In-between, you'll help Yasuhara with research and information collecting."

"Sounds good to me," Katsu agreed with a nod.

"Good. Then you can start now. Mai, tea. Miss Shinomori, go with her. When that's done, I want you to go with Father Brown to get your bag."

Grumbling, the aforementioned assistant went off to the extension of the trailer. She could hear Katsu behind her, muttering something along the lines of not liking being called "Miss".

But Mai found herself suddenly grateful to be Naru's tea-serving lackey just this once, and even more so for having company. For, no sooner had the two girls walked out into the night and under the white awning that led to the kitchen trailer next door, they could distinctly hear Naru's voice saying in a pleasant voice that promised nothing less than certain doom,

"Now, if Takigawa, Ms. Matsuzaki, and Yasuhara could explain why they were all separated despite my instructions, we can get back to our investigation."

* * *

><p><em><strong>AN:**__ There are a few references in here that I thought I'd want to clarify to avoid confusion:_

_**GRP**__ – acronym for glass-reinforced plastic; referring to fiberglass piping.  
><em>_**Naichō**__ – the abbreviation for __**Nai**__kaku Jōhō __**Chō**__sashitsu, the Cabinet Research and Intelligence Office; it's basically like the CIA for Japan.  
><em>_**PSIA**__ – Public Security Intelligence Agency; deals mostly with domestic and espionage threats against Japan, from what my understanding is. _

_Well, now the team's got an interloper in their midst. Originally, Katsu's family name (surname) was going to be Shinohara, but with Yasu and Masako already having that similarity I figured that might not have worked well (too many "hara" names), so I used Shinomori instead._

_Special thanks goes out to __**TheAmateurArtist**__, __**Tbonechick2011**__, __**Foxgrl18**__, __**GhostHunt13**__, **_Cuz-im-just-that-awsum_**__, __**scizzors**__, __**Aoi Kitsukawa**__, __**akjupiter**__, and __**YummyCake**__ for all the reviews, and to everyone who added this story to their favorites and alerts – thank you so much! Until the next chapter! ^_^_


	5. Case File 1 Pt 5

**Case File #1: Skeletons in the Closet  
>Part 5<strong>

* * *

><p><strong>July<br>Day 2  
>7:20 AM<strong>

Amid the gasps let out by girls, John, and Yasu, Takigawa let out a low whistle that echoed over the chaos as the group stood in stunned observation.

The construction site was a disaster.

"This is worse than the mess from yesterday," the monk observed quietly. The others could only nod numbly in agreement. Chains were strewn about as if they'd been flung; ropes were knotted and woven into intricate patterns, their ends dangling several floors above. Supports beams were either broken or thrown violently aside, and the pile of sheetrock Katsu had hidden her bag under the previous evening was in total disarray. Equipment – both theirs and that of Tomei Construction Company – had apparently tossed from the windows. One of the night vision cameras was dangling by its cord from the second story.

"It's a good thing Kazuya has insurance on his equipment," Yasu muttered, casting a glance in the eighteen-year-old's direction.

Naru said nothing. He seemed to be too absorbed in surveying the ruined jobsite to really pay any attention to what they were saying.

"Oh no… not again…" the group turned in the direction of the groan. Umehito Sendo, the jobsite foreman, had arrived. Right behind him were Kazehiro Otonashi and Obitsu Katagiri, the CEO wide-eyed and stunned at the disaster before them. The secretary merely narrowed his eyes in clear disapproval.

"Sorry about the mess, Mr. Sendo and Mr. Otonashi," Mai apologized nervously.

It took the foreman a minute to process her words. "No… no, it isn't your fault," he said, sounding dazed. "I know you kids didn't do this…"

"Whoa… well I know the local _bōsōzoku_ didn't do all this," a new voice joined in. Katsu Shinomori had appeared just behind the two business suit-clad men, and was gawking at the mess from under a large pair of sunglasses perched atop her beanie. "They've been too busy hanging around the – _eep_!"

Obitsu Katagiri had her by the collar of the unbuttoned plaid shirt she wore over a pale grey tank, not in the least amused.

"I _thought_ you were told to stay _off_ this site," he told the girl gruffly. Katsu glared at him.

"I'll have you know that I'm –"

"She's with us," Naru interrupted. Everyone within hearing range looked at him incredulously.

"This little _tramp_ works for Shibuya Psychic Research?" the secretary looked at him in evident disbelief. Katsu's glare intensified at the insult.

"She's a volunteer," clarified the narcissist. "Miss Shinomori has offered her assistance by aiding us in research and data collecting. Seeing as one of our team members met with an unfortunate accident the other day and is not to stress themselves too much, I saw no harm in accepting her proposal."

Mai winced at her boss's unspoken accusation. The only reason he'd let Katsu in wasn't just for whatever information she might have had (although he _had_ kept her notes, "for investigation purposes," as he'd said) – it was because she was the _reason_ Takigawa's face was bruised and swollen, there was a long cut on his head, and he had been caught by Ayako the previous evening in an attempt to take two more pills of arthritis strength acetaminophen while the SPR director continued his interrogation. The bassist could still walk around (and was doing so out of pure obstinacy and unwillingness to remain cooped up in the hotel room during a case), but it was pretty obvious that he was still in a lot of pain.

And now Katsu was Kazuya Shibuya's lackey for the duration of this case.

'_Poor Katsu,'_ the brunette couldn't help but think as she watched the girl. _'I hope she relaxes soon. She looks like she's on the edge. And Naru isn't helping matters.'_

Indeed, SPR's director had only further increased Katsu's unease after being caught trespassing. Mai hadn't been permitted to hear the entire conversation (quite the contrary: with the exception of Takigawa, who'd been confined to his bed at the hotel after Lin dropped him off with John to keep an eye on him, the rest of the team had been promptly sent back to exploring), but she knew from experience that Naru could be a harsh interviewer when he saw fit. And judging from the intermittent anxious glances the interloper would send in his direction if they were in the same vicinity, Mai could tell he hadn't held back.

And now there was Mr. Katagiri – "Old Hawkeye", as Sendo had called him – to contend with. And Katsu didn't look any easier being held by the scruff like a naughty kitten.

Mr. Otonashi's hawkish secretary looked down at the girl he still had by the collar, studying her with an unwavering gaze. The girl in question merely glared back in defiance, though it was fairly obvious that she'd liked to have been elsewhere at the moment.

After a moment he sighed and let her go, and took a step back. "Very well, then. But know this, Mr. Shibuya –" He narrowed his piercing gaze upon the raven-haired youth. "This hooligan has been breaking into this complex for well over a week now, and I'm sure Mr. Otonashi has already informed you of materials going missing. I'd keep an eye on her if I were you. And count your supplies at the end of the day."

Naru's own gaze was as cold as a Siberian winter as he watched the girl storm to the back of the group, placing herself right behind Takigawa as if to hide herself before his eyes returned to Hawkeye. "I'll take that into consideration."

Luckily, Mr. Otonashi had recovered enough to break through the uncomfortable tension that permeated the air.

"Mr. Shibuya, I apologize for any damage done to your equipment, and am willing to compensate for your losses."

The youth's arctic gaze slid slowly away from the secretary. "That won't be necessary, seeing as insurance covers a majority of the equipment we use."

Mr. Otonashi blinked. "Ah, well… I must say, Mr. Shibuya: you certainly think things through." He chuckled nervously. "Most impressive."

Sendo coughed, bringing attention to himself. "Excuse me, but if it's all right with you guys, I took the liberty of making today a sort of free day for the men. They'll be coming in soon, but the most I'll be having them do is cleaning up the mess, so feel free to ask for help."

"If we had a need for it, we will."

"Right. Anyways, we figured you'd want to interview everyone as soon as possible, and I brought the work roster with me so you know who you'll be speaking with. Hawkeye – I mean Mr. Katagiri – has the company's pass codes with him so you can have access to the jobsite database."

The secretary's mouth twitched at the nickname, but swept past as he pulled a thin grey folder from his briefcase.

"I ought to have provided this the other day," he said as he pored over the folder's contents, "but I was too preoccupied to do so at the time. Whenever you require them, I will enter the pass codes for you so that you will have access; however, I will not _give_ you these codes under any circumstances. Is that agreeable, Mr. Shibuya?"

"That would be fine. Lin will look into the databases after the interview process." The Chinese man nodded in the secretary's direction. Katagiri simply frowned in return. "And seeing as the three of you are here, would you care to give your statements at this time?" He turned in the CEO's direction. "Mr. Otonashi, you would be exempt from this process; however, we'll need Mr. Katagiri and Mr. Sendo, if you don't mind."

"Oh, no. Certainly not," the older man assured him. "Actually, I feel it would be best if I helped out a bit on the site myself. It won't do me any good just sitting around in an office when everyone else is out cleaning up."

"You need to watch your blood pressure," Katagiri intoned.

"Don't worry about me, Obitsu. If anything happens, I'll quit. In the meantime, let me do something _other_ than paperwork."

The secretary shrugged. "If that is what you wish. So long as you are careful, I will not argue."

"Good," the CEO laughed. "All right, then, what do we do first?"

"I would like for both Mr. Sendo and Mr. Katagiri to come with me," Naru stated. "I will speak with Mr. Sendo first. Mr. Katagiri, if you would please wait in the trailer attached to the one we're using as base, we'll talk to you once we're finished."

"That would be a workable arrangement," the secretary concurred. He strode towards the SPR director in an effortless gait, but did not hesitate to send a scathing look in Katsu's direction and muttering the word, "mutt."

The sudden freeze in the group indicated that _everyone_ had heard it.

"Hey, that was rude!" Mai protested. Katagiri spared her only one very dry look before turning around again. Angered by the man's unsavory demeanor, Mai looked to see what Katsu's reaction was, but the interloper's face was mostly hidden by her dark bangs as she readjusted the shoulder strap of her bag and began walking towards the building.

Mai frowned worriedly. "Hey, Katsu? You okay?"

"What was all _that_ about?" Monk asked, sidling up alongside the girl.

"Just the usual old geezer diatribe," she responded tersely, pulling her sunglasses over her already hidden eyes. "Don't worry about it, 'cause I sure don't. _Go, go, beauty, round, round, nothing's gonna stop_."

Monk and Mai shared a look upon hearing the recognized spoken song lyrics. "Wait, what does –?"

"Miss Shinomori. Yasuhara." The two aforementioned teens looked up in their leader's direction. Naru was several feet away from base, Katagiri and Sendo walking just behind Lin, who was currently opening the door. "I want the both of you to talk to everyone living around this area. See if you can find out anything about the building that used to stand here, and if it held any significance. For the best coverage, I recommend you split up for this endeavor."

"Sure thing, Boss," Yasu replied, tipping his hardhat back.

"We're on it," said Katsu, and the two walked off, Yasuhara attempting to converse with his newly acquired partner lowly. Whatever it was he was trying to say to her, Mai couldn't hear. And she didn't have time to wonder, thanks to Naru's next order:

"The rest of you will check the equipment and make notes on whatever is damaged and reset everything that's still operational. No one is to travel alone – make sure that you're with someone at all times and that you have a communication device. Mai, tea. And make it hot."

She looked at him incredulously. "_What?_ In _this_ heat? Are you _kidding_ me?"

He turned a slightly amused glance in her direction. "Mai, do I look like I'm joking to you?"

'_No, but you look like you're making fun of me – again!'_ She sighed. "Tea coming right up, Your Highness."

His eyes narrowed slightly. "Need I remind you who signs your paycheck…?"

"I'm going! I'm going!" _'Stupid tea-addicted, workaholic, narcissist __**jerk**__!'_

She missed the self-satisfied smirk that appeared on his face while her back was turned.

**…**

Mai's sour disposition brought on by the already sweltering heat and disdain of having to have endured a boiling tea kettle on top of it was quickly forced back down her throat upon entering the trailer being used as base. Upon entering, she found herself coming into the questioning somewhere in the middle. As she placed Naru's tea in front of him and placed a glass of cold water in front of Sendo, she did her best to keep up before heading in Lin's direction with another glass of water.

"We were told that several of your workers have turned up with unusual injuries," Naru continued, taking a black notebook and opening it up, presumably to consult his notes. "According to Mr. Otonashi, you've had a few instances of workers suffering from frostbite, one of whom was sent to the hospital with hypothermia."

"Enichi Yamada," Sendo said, shaking his head. "It was nearly one hundred degrees outside that day, and if that wasn't enough, the air conditioning in the office trailers went out! I was about to give everyone half an hour to keep them from overdoing it, when Yamada came out from the basement level of the business section, shivering like crazy and holding his shirt against him. At first I thought the heat had gotten to him, but when I actually touched his skin, it felt like he'd been dunked in ice! I didn't know how to react when I got a phone call from his wife that night, telling me that he was being kept in the hospital for hypothermia and frost bite. We don't have anything cold on this site except for the ice used for keeping the drinks cool and whatever's on the food cart, and Yamada always brings his lunch from home."

"Did Mr. Yamada say anything strange either before or after this incident?"

Sendo nodded emphatically. "Sure did. Kept going on about getting shoved in a closet and winding up in the freezing cold. Even after he'd calmed down some, he said the exact same thing: he was working up on the third level with the rest of the guys, when suddenly he felt someone push him on the small of his back. Next thing he knew, he was freezing cold and pounding on the door, yelling at the top of his lungs for someone to let him out. After talking around, I found out that it was Jun Furukawa who'd found him locked up somehow in one of the storage bins down in the basement. And then he took off running, and that's when I found out he was like an icicle."

"Is Mr. Furukawa available to confirm your story?"

"I'm sure he'd be willing to give you a statement if you gave him a call, but the last I heard he wasn't able to talk. Furukawa was the worst of the injuries: burn marks and lacerations running up his back. He's still stuck in the hospital for third-degree burns." Sendo frowned. "Now that I think on it, Furukawa'd been found in the basement level of the business section, too. And the other guys that'd gone to the hospital. But Furukawa was the only one who went for heat-related injuries. Can't even lie on his back now."

"Poor guy…" Mai muttered sadly. Even if she hadn't met the man, she couldn't help feel awful for him and the other crew members who'd been injured.

Naru jotted something down in his notebook. "That concludes my questioning, Mr. Sendo. Thank you for your cooperation. If you'd be so kind as to ask Mr. Katagiri to come in, I'd appreciate it."

"Sure thing, Mr. Shibuya. Let me know if you anything else." The foreman rose and quickly downed the remains of his drink, the ice having already melted. He gave Mai a smile before walking to the door. "And thank you for the drink, Miss Taniyama. I needed it."

"It was my pleasure," she returned, bowing. Sendo smiled and exited.

Once the door was shut, Mai looked over to her employer. "So, Naru… did you find out anything new?"

"Nothing much," he replied without looking up, reaching out for his cup of tea and taking a drink. "If anything, he's only confirmed what Mr. Otonashi told us initially. Although he's given me reason to look further into the basement underneath the business section. And then there are the closets…"

Mai frowned. "It's really weird how that came up. Do you think it's tied into what we saw on the monitor last night?"

Naru looked up at her for a moment, taking in her words as he set his cup back on the saucer. "At the moment, it's too soon to say; however, I won't discount anything just yet. We don't have enough to work with yet for me to make a call on that one."

"Oh…" A sharp knock on the door caught their attention, and before Naru could give the person permission to enter, Obitsu Katagiri swiftly entered the business trailer.

"Mr. Katagiri," the youth acknowledged, the irritation Mai was certain he was feeling carefully tucked away.

"If you don't mind, Mr. Shibuya, I would like to make this brief," said the secretary as he promptly sat in the chair across from the SPR director. "I am fully prepared to provide the pass codes into the Tomei Construction Company's employee records for this jobsite, and am willing to allow you the privilege of reviewing all of the incident reports filed since work began.

"Just for the record, however, I do not believe in the supernatural, nor do I believe there is anything paranormal about whatever it is that is going on around here." Mai had to bite her lip to keep from speaking out. _'The __**nerve**__ of this guy!'_

"And what explanation might you have, Mr. Katagiri?" Naru inquired coolly.

"Local hooligans," Katagiri answered. "This site has been targeted by resident teenage troublemakers and vandal several times now."

"And among them was Miss Katsu Shinomori?" Mai looked at her boss incredulously upon hearing their newest member's name.

Katagiri's snorted. "The young lady you claim 'volunteered' to assist you in your research has been caught on this property on multiple occasions this past week alone. Mr. Sendo has been kind in asking her to refrain from sneaking onto the site, but nothing he'd said ever seemed to have touched a nerve. A few days ago, I took it upon myself to speak to the girl as well. I told her quite firmly that should I ever find her breaking onto private property again, I would not hesitate to call the police. Given the damages done primarily at night, I feel I was justified in my position."

Mai wanted desperately to snap at the older man's accusations, but Naru quickly intervened before her mouth could open.

"Has Miss Shinomori ever been _caught_ damaging the equipment on this site or stealing construction materials?"

The secretary faltered a bit. "Well… no. But –"

A shrill cry pierced through the walls of the trailer, causing them all to give a start. In a flash, all of them – Mai, Naru, Lin, and even Katagiri – were out in the blazing sunlight and darting towards the apartment side of the complex. At the base, Sendo was barking out orders and men were scrambling about fervently, chaos taking reign.

"What's going on here?" Naru demanded. The foreman snapped his head in the youth's direction, his weathered face blanching.

Another shriek answered him, and they looked up. On the fifth level, where scaffolding ran around the perimeter of the unfinished floor, dangled Masako, jean-clad legs kicking about fiercely. She was clinging onto John's outstretch arm; the young priest himself was making a desperate attempt to pull her up while grasping the metal railing of the scaffolding. Several workmen were yanking at John's shirt and one was holding onto his torso while Takigawa and two others were attempting to pull Masako up. Otonashi was behind them, calling out for Masako to hang on.

"Oh, my god!" Mai made break for the building, but was roughly yanked back by the wrist. She glared at the person who'd stopped her.

Naru returned the glare, his eyes _daring_ her to yell at him.

There was a loud cracking sound, and Masako screamed again, this time with John's loud yelp piercing the air in a terrifying duet. The group below watched as the wooden blanks under the Australian exorcist splintered.

_CRACK!_

Almost as if in slow motion, the boards snapped, and the medium's grip on John's arm was broken. The priest made an attempt to grab at her again, but was pulled back before he plunged as well. Even from her vantage point, Mai could see Masako's eyes widen in sheer terror as her short black hair whipped about her pale face, hand outstretched as if she could grab at John again as she fell…

* * *

><p><em><strong>AN:**__ Oh, no, Masako! _:O_ What'll happen next?_

_Special thanks goes out to __**Aoi Kitsukawa**__, __**Foxgrl18**__, and __**YummyCake**__ for your reviews to the last chapter, and to everyone who added this story to their alerts and favorites list – thank you so much! Feedback is wonderful! Until the next chapter! ^_^_


	6. Case File 1 Pt 6

_**Author's Notes: **__Yay, I actually got this done early! This is for everyone who worried what would happen to Masako in the last chapter. Let's see what happens next…_

* * *

><p><strong>Previously on <strong>_**Ghost Hunt: Inception**_**…**

_There was a loud cracking sound, and Masako screamed again, this time with John's loud yelp piercing the air in a terrifying duet. The group below watched as the wooden planks under the Australian exorcist splintered._

CRACK!

_Almost as if in slow motion, the boards snapped, and the medium's grip on John's arm was broken. The priest made an attempt to grab at her again, but was pulled back before he plunged as well. Even from her vantage point, Mai could see Masako's eyes widen in sheer terror as her short black hair whipped about her pale face, hand outstretched as if she could grab at John again as she fell…_

* * *

><p><strong>Case File #1: Skeletons in the Closet<br>Part 6**

* * *

><p><strong>July<br>Day 2 (cont.)**

"Sh-she slipped," John gulped as the paramedics gently lifted the girl onto the stretcher. "She slipped and I couldn't catch her in time…" He buried his face in one hand.

"It's all right, John. It wasn't your fault." Takigawa gripped the sobbing Australian's shoulder reassuringly, though whether it was for John's sake or his own it was hard to tell.

Masako had fallen three floors, landing on the scaffolding left at the second level with a sickening _thud_ and lying too still for anyone's comfort. Naru had to restrain Mai from running to the girl's side blindly and instead held a tight grip on her wrist as he led the way to make certain that she too did not run into some kind of misfortune. When they'd made it to where the medium lie unconscious, they found the rest of the group already there, Ayako checking the girl's vitals while screeching for someone to call an ambulance. As Mr. Otonashi put in the fervent call to emergency services, Takigawa was supporting an utterly horrified John, who looked ready to pass out.

And now they were all back on the ground, watching in trepidation as Masako's prone form was being rolled to the awaiting ambulance, its lights blazing and siren set to blare the moment the doors in the back shut. The only things they'd heard so far in regards to the medium's condition was that she was still unconscious and had a concussion and fractured collar bone. It was good thing she'd been wearing her hardhat, they said…

Mai clung to Naru's arm, doing her best not to sob as Masako was quickly wheeled by. She couldn't forget the look on the girl's face as her hold onto John was so suddenly and frighteningly _gone_ and she plunged downward. If it hadn't been for the workmen there, John would have fallen as well.

She squeezed her eyes shut in futile attempt to block out the replaying images, unconsciously gripping her boss's arm even tighter. The action caused a set of dark blue eyes to slide in her direction, softening only slightly before returning to their usual icy countenance.

"I need my arm back, Mai." He spoke lowly but firmly. His assistant muttered an apology, releasing his by now almost numb limb and hugging herself in place of clinging to him.

Sparing another unnoticed gaze down upon her, he walked over to where Monk and John were. In the background he could hear Sendo commanding his work force to look at the scaffolding where Masako had been, demanding an explanation immediately.

"Father Brown." The Australian's head shot up, normally clear blue eyes suddenly bloodshot and strained. Not even Naru could deny that the man was a wreck in his current state. "I want you to accompany Miss Hara to the hospital. You should have yourself checked out as well." He indicated the growing blood stain coming from the left side the exorcist's chest wear the material on his shirt had been torn from the breaking planks.

John looked down at his injury detachedly. "Yeah… sure…"

As Takigawa took the injured priest over to the ambulance where Masako was quickly and carefully being loaded into, one of the workers ran up to them, sweating profusely and breathing harshly. Somewhere in the back of her mind, Mai recognized him as one of the carpenters who'd been talking to Sendo the day SPR had arrived to the site.

"Mr. Sendo," he panted, stopping right in front of them. He gripped his kneepads as he bent over in an attempt to catch his breath.

"What is it, Ayanokoji?" the foreman demanded, clearly disturbed by this latest scare.

"Just… found out… the problem…" Ayanokoji swallowed, clearly on the verge of tears. "Not like the others… warped board on the scaffolding… my fault… forgot to fix… s-so sorry…"

Sendo frowned, but it was Mr. Otonashi who moved to give the trembling worker a gentle pat on the shoulder. "It's okay," the CEO said. "With everything that's been going on, I doubt anyone would have remembered warped boarding. It isn't your fault." He looked over to Naru apologetically. "I'm sorry about Miss Hara, Mr. Shibuya. I certainly hope she'll be all right."

'_So do the rest of us,'_ Mai thought to herself. Even if he didn't show it, she knew Naru was concerned as well. They all were. And with the horrified expression engraved on his face, even "Hawkeye" Katagiri was no exception.

It was likely because of this that he silently handed the folder containing the pass codes over to Lin before nearly dashing over to Mr. Otonashi, who looked to be quite ill after watching Masako's fall.

A heavy dread weighed down upon the jobsite as the emergency sirens of the ambulance blared, slowly fading into the distance as the vehicle transported both Masako and John to the hospital.

**…**

It was two hours later that SPR received a phone call from John. While Masako was apparently going to be fine despite her horrifying descent, the hospital doctors were still running tests and checking on her continuously, and wouldn't be releasing her for at least three or four days to make certain she would be okay.

But that wasn't the only news he called to deliver.

"Just before she fell asleep from the medication they gave her, Masako asked me to relay a message for her," the priest said over the phone, blue eyes darting over in the direction of the now slumbering form on the other side of the room.

"She said that she felt no less than fifteen spirits trapped in the business part of the complex. And that's not the only thing…" he swallowed before continuing. "According to Masako, they're all crying and screaming that they want to get out. That they want to find someone."

There was a brief silence.

"Did she say anything else?"

"No, nothing," said John. "After that, the medication took over and she fell asleep."

He thought he could hear the sound of the SPR director's voice speaking to Lin for a moment.

"I want you to stay with Miss Hara until further notice. Call me if she says anything else when she wakes up."

"Don't worry, Kazuya. I'm not going anywhere."

**…**

**7:18 PM**

Later on in the day Yasuhara returned, Katsu appearing half an hour after. Upon hearing of Masako's accident, Yasu immediately began asking how she was and if she would be all right. Katsu merely bit her lip, and her light eyebrows were furrowed in what Mai could only assume was concern.

Naru, ever the workaholic, quickly dragged them back to the situation at hand the moment they sat down in the small couch that Takigawa had been laid up on the night before. After the incident, he'd gone right back into what Mai sourly called his "investigation mode", and sent everyone back to checking the equipment, which resulted in the discovery of five broken cameras, and one of the thermal imagining camera sporting a cracked lens.

Needless to say, the SPR direction was not currently in a good mood. The countless tea orders he'd thrown at Mai throughout the day and the continuous tapping of his fingers against Otonashi's desk were clear indications of that.

"What did you the two of you find out?"

Yasuhara looked over to Katsu. "Ladies first," he offered with a slight bow.

Katsu gave him a wry look, but shrugged. "Whatever." She pulled a small pad of paper from her bag and leaned back on the couch. "Okay, while Yasuhara decided to talk to the neighborhood families and everyone, I decided to take on the more… _overlooked_ members of our fair society."

"Overlooked?" Mai looked at her questioningly.

"Homeless folk and kids who don't like to go to school, mostly. And a street gang or two."

"Whoa… you didn't tell me _that_ part!"

Katsu smirked at the college student's horrified reaction. "You said to get as much information as possible, right? When it comes to old buildings and construction sites, the best places for gossip aren't always conventional. So while _you_ went after the old ladies and casual shoppers, _I _went for the least obvious information sources."

"But _street gangs_?" Ayako was equally as outraged. "That's dangerous! What if they hadn't liked you trespassing on their territory?"

Katsu simply shrugged it aside. "I'm here, aren't I? And look! I'm still in one piece!" She grinned a little at the now practically seething shrine maiden. Yasu's lips were pursed in evident displeasure.

'_Why would Katsu go up people like __**gang members**__?'_ Mai wondered, frowning in the girl's direction. _'I'd be scared if I even walked by people like that!'_ She shuddered at the thought.

"And…?" Naru, ever the businessman, prompted impatiently. "Did you come across anything interesting?"

"Actually, I think I did." She looked down at the notepad. "According to what pretty much everyone said, the old building that used to stand here supposedly had a reputation for being haunted."

"Seriously?" Takigawa leaned in to hear better.

There was a click, and everyone's heads shot up. John soon found himself as the center of attention.

"Sorry for the interruption," he apologized, shutting the door behind him. "I just got back from the hospital. Masako's doing well, but the doctor told me that she needed to rest, so I decided to come back here to help."

"How are _you_ doing, John?" Mai asked, noticing that he now wore a new shirt.

"I'm all right," he said, sitting in the open chair next to Lin, who was currently sitting behind his laptop in an attempt to record Yasuhara and Katsu's findings. "It was a nasty cut, but they stitched me up and told me I'd be all right. They did give me a prescription for antibiotics, though, so I wouldn't get an infection. Other than that, I'm fine."

"That's good to hear." Naru looked back over to Katsu. "You may continue, Miss Shinormori. You said the old building was claimed to be haunted?"

"Yeah, at least that's what going story is." She scanned over her notes again. "There used to be an old apartment complex here that'd been standing since around the 1950s. It changed hands several times before finally shutting down sometime in the Lost Decade*, and since then it's been left to rot."

"But during the time it _was_ operational, it wasn't limited to apartment housing alone," Yasuhara interjected. "In fact, during the 1970s and the early 1980s, a portion of the first floor was used as a laundry facility. In the late 1980s, it had been used as a soup kitchen and shelter for the homeless."

"But all that ended when the asset price bubble collapsed*," Katsu continued. "The building had been falling into disrepair for quite some time – I guess the reason it kept changing hands so often was because no one could afford to keep up with it – it stopped being used officially as an apartment complex following a series of code violations. A year after the last owners abandoned it, the building was declared to be partially (if not fully) condemned by the city council. After that, people decided to stay as far away from it as possible. Or at least the adults did. The neighborhood kids and vagabonds didn't always listen.

"When I talked with a few members of the one of the local street gangs, they weren't initially too keen on answering my questions. When I asked them if they'd ever used the building for initiation purposes, however, I got some pretty interesting responses."

"Initiation?" Mai frowned, a sign that she didn't understand.

"Whenever you try to enter into any kind of group, business or otherwise, you often have to pass some form of initiation in order to prove your worth," Naru explained. "Think of it in the terms of attending high school here in Japan: in order to be accepted by the school you wish to attend, you have to pass their entrance exams for placement."

"Oh."

"With gangs, it's basically the same concept; the only difference, though, is that gang initiations usually aren't very pleasant," said Katsu. "Sometimes it's theft, sometimes it's harassment – initiations vary among groups. Apparently, one of the more popular gang initiations around here used to consist of breaking into the old building in the middle of the night and not getting caught. From what I gathered, not many people were able to pass. One guy told me that a freshman in high school who'd tried the initiation wound up having a massive anxiety attack and had to be rushed to the hospital. As it turns out, he'd somehow gotten locked up in a closet somewhere on the sixth floor and something wrapped around his neck. If it wasn't for the middle school kid who was with him during the initiation, he might've died from terror alone, if not asphyxiation."

There was an awkward silence that followed as everyone let the information sink in.

"Was there anything else?" Naru asked after a time.

"Yeah, there was. A lot." She shifted in her seat and looked up at him with a frown. "After they tore the building down, the local gangs decided to shift their initiation activities and sought instead to target the construction site rather than moving on to robbing local convenience stores like a few of the other groups apparently seem to favor.

"They told me that it was pretty simple stuff: just jump over the fence, steal a few things, make a mess, and then take off before a beat cop came by. For their last initiation, which was about three months ago, they decided to have the newbie steal some of the equipment – simple stuff like ropes, chains, and whatnot – and put them in the wrong places. Another part of the initiation was to break into the foreman's office and make," she coughed, "_late night calls_, as they put it, on the office phone, and under the name of the foreman on the jobsite.

"I actually spoke with the kid who'd undergone this initiation. Even though he'd passed, he told me the whole thing was really weird. He said that the following morning, he and the gang stood back behind the fences and watched what happened when the construction team came in. But instead of finding the chains hanging from the fourth floor scaffolding rails and the ropes stretched across various sections of the apartment complex, the crew wound up hauling the chains from the fifteenth floor of the business building and recoiling the ropes when they found them in the basement level, which hadn't been separated at the time. And a lot of the equipment had been damaged as well."

"But you said that he was only supposed to just misplace things and make a crank call," John interjected.

"Yeah, and that was _all_ the guy did," Katsu said. "The rest of the gang hadn't even stepped foot on the site – they were watching him from an alley off to the side.

"As it turns out, the _only_ thing that came out right was the prank call – they heard about the foreman getting a phone call about it from the CEO."

"So how did the equipment get damaged?" Yasu mused aloud.

The interloper shook her head and shrugged. "They don't know. They were there for a really long time and spent the night in the alley. The kid doing the initiation said that he was too nervous and excited to sleep, and he didn't remember anyone passing by that night. Considering the situation, I'd have to believe him: anyone whose nerves are that wound up is bound to notice if even a cockroach scuttles by."

Mai and Ayako shuddered at the analogy – neither of them like the idea of cockroaches.

"Is there anyone else who might know about the old building and its history for being haunted?" asked Naru. "Someone who's lived in the area for a while and is familiar with the building itself?"

"Well… not really," Yasuhara answered as Katsu closed her notepad. "There aren't very many people who have been around for all that long – a lot of the older residents have moved out over the years, and everyone else belongs to the kind of well-to-do families that prefer to overlook neighborhood ghost tales. And there's absolutely no one that I found that lived in the building prior to its closure. One of the local general store owners told me that the church group that ran the soup kitchen closed down about fifteen years ago and its members have since moved out the area."

"But there is _one_ guy who's been around for a while," Katsu said, earning raised eyebrows from both Yasu and Naru. "His name's Ichiro Taka; he was mentioned by a lot of the street urchins around here. According local gossip, he's been here for nearly thirty years, and he's been left as homeless intermittently since the economy went bad. They told me that he was always warning people about going into the old building that used to stand here, but it wasn't exactly clear _why_ he was so vehement about it."

"Hang on. You said his name was Ichiro Taka?" Yasu shuffled through his notes.

"Yeah. Why?"

He pulled a note-laden page out of the pile. "As it turns out, Mr. Taka came up on several occasions today when I went around interviewing everyone in the vicinity. They talked about the old abandoned building that used to stand here apparently being so dangerous that not even the homeless people would use it for shelter if they could help it. It was during these conversations that I'd heard the name 'Ichiro Taka' brought up. When I asked who he was, they told me that he's an elderly homeless man who's lived here in Nakameguro for at least three decades. He's also apparently the instigator of the warnings attached to the old building."

"Does anyone know where we can locate Mr. Taka?" Naru inquired.

"No idea," Yasu admitted.

"I know." They looked at Katsu in mild surprise. "He usually hangs around the Meguro River, and sits at this bench with some old proverb carved into the back. He wasn't there today, but if you want I can try again tomorrow."

Naru nodded. "Do that, and bring him here if at all possible."

"Gotcha."

"Now then…" the group quickly silenced, anticipating the next round of orders. "Given that the previous building had a history of suspicion to it, and taking into consideration Ms. Hara's earlier statement and the amount of accidents and disasters occurring here, it would be safe to assume that something was left over."

"Is that even possible?" Mai inquired.

"If it wasn't possible, I would never have suggested it."

There was a round of amused snickers as the brunette's face went bright red. Even Katsu couldn't help but crack a smile at the girl's reaction. Upon seeing this, Mai calmed down some.

'_It's to know that she can genuinely smile, even if it's just like that. She had me worried for a while.'_

"All right, _enough_." The warning tone of their leader's voice quickly placed the trailer into silence.

Naru looked around with some kind of self-satisfaction before continuing. "Tonight, I want everyone out and investigating. Lin and I will remain here at base for the time being; we'll rotate groups so everyone does something and takes a turn at keeping an eye on the monitors. Takigawa, I want you, Mai, and Miss Shinomori to investigate the basement and first floor of apartment complex. Get temperature readings, check the cameras, everything. And make sure you explain things to Miss Shinomori as you go along."

"All _right_! It looks like I get to hang out with the lovely ladies!" the monk cheered, pulling Mai into a hug.

Naru frowned inwardly at the interaction, but chose to ignore it. "Ms. Matsuzaki, Yasuhara, and Father Brown – I want you to check out the business complex, in particular the second floor and the unfinished third floor. Those appear to be the most active areas."

They nodded in agreement.

"And for the last time: under no circumstances is _anyone_ to go off alone." He gave Mai a meaningful look, earning himself her tongue sticking out in his direction. "Miss Hara's accident today is _not_ something I want to see repeated. If any of you decide to act against this order, then I'll have no choice but to remove you from the case." A quick glare silenced the oncoming protests. "In case you haven't forgotten, this not only a construction site, but a construction site over a building that was presumed to be haunted prior to its demolishment. If none of you can see the severity of the situation, then you're all bigger idiots than I'd previously assumed."

**…**

**8:15 PM**

"Okay, all we need to do is check things out and then we'll report back to Naru." Mai looked over her shoulder and grinned in her new partner's direction. "Have you got your hardhat and flashlight?"

"Yup," Katsu replied, tipping her hat back so it didn't fall into her face. After managing to cajole Naru into letting her join, Yasuhara had managed to sneak another hardhat out from Tomei Construction Company's stash, and bestowed it upon the bemused girl, along with the effects left over from the team's earlier "personalization" festivities. Poor Katsu had to make do with a few garishly colored flowers, the few bullet holes that Yasuhara and Monk hadn't claimed, and a couple of permanent markers.

What the girl turned out wasn't half bad, given what little she had to work with. A few flowers were scattered across the bill, connected by a green vine-like line she created with one of the markers. With a black marker she'd created a simple but attractive intertwining vine pattern that went all around in a band. Like John, she'd written a few sentences on her headgear, but Mai had absolutely no idea what they meant. Ironically, it was John who'd been able to explain them to not only Mai but a few of the others in the group.

**…**

"_It's Latin," he explained, looking down at the scrawl. Yasuhara had managed to get a hold of the interloper's headgear after she'd disappeared to one of the portable restrooms on the site. He'd been lucky to have gotten his hands on the item – Katsu was unnaturally overprotective of her possessions, they'd noticed. She'd taken her bag with her._

"_Latin?" Ayako raised an eyebrow. "How could she possibly know Latin?"_

"_Hey, Yasu, do __**you**__ know any Latin?" Mai asked._

_The college student blinked. "Well, yeah. Virtually everyone knows at least one word or phrase of Latin – it's the root of the Romance languages, and it's the source of many borrowed words and phrases. I think I'd be surprised to meet someone who __**didn't**__ know at least __**one**__ word of Latin; despite being considered a dead language, it's still used worldwide. But I don't think I've seen anything like what Katsu's written."_

"_What's it say, John?" Monk looked over the Aussie's shoulder, and pointed to the phrase on their left. "Let's start with this one."_

"Ego ascendero scala ad astra," _John read. "I ascend the stairway to the stars."_

"'_The stairway to the stars'?" Ayako repeated. "Just what does __**that**__ mean?"_

"_What does __**what**__ mean?" The all stiffened at the sound of Katsu's voice. Turning around, they discovered the girl staring at them blankly, a cold fury seeming to swirl in her eyes._

"_We were just wondering what all the writing on your hardhat says, Katsu," Mai said, trying her best to remain calm. "That's all." _

_The interloper tensed._

"_What all did you want to know about?"_

"_Well, what's the 'stairway to the stars'?" said Yasu._

_An odd look passed over her face. "It's a concept. An idea someone I once knew had about being able to go beyond the sky and reach the farthest stars in our dreams. I fell in love with the phrase and I've been writing it on things ever since. The phrase 'stairway to the stars' was actually inspired by some song, but I've never heard it. Probably American. The person who came up with the saying was a huge fan of American rock music."_

"_Oh…" came their response in unison._

"_Hey, is this another music reference?" Mai asked, taking the hat, turning it around, and pointing to the lengthy scrawl on the back._

_Katsu grinned a little. "Sort of. It's more like a variation. It's from the same person who wrote the stairway to the stars line."_

"_It sounds as though he was well-educated in Latin," John remarked._

"_Actually, I think he just like the idea of learning a supposedly dead language." She laughed a little. "Dead. Now that's one thing Latin __**isn't**__."_

"_If you're all finished congregating in the kitchen…" Naru's warning tone came laced with crackling static from the walkie-talkie latched onto Takigawa's belt. The monk snatched up the communication object and rolled his eyes._

"_Don't worry, we're going," he responded. Latching the device back onto his belt he looked at the others. "Okay, guys. Naru's getting antsy, so we'd better get going."_

"_**Naru**__?" Katsu sounded confused. "I thought his name was Kazuya?"_

"_Oho! That means you haven't heard about Mai's little nickname for him!" He put an arm around her rigid shoulders and pulled her out the door. "You see, it came up over a year ago, when –"_

"_Wait! Katsu, you forgot your… oh, never mind." Mai sighed and looked down at the interloper's hardhat, the foreign letters staring back at her. If it had been English, Mai might have been able to decipher at least some of it. But again it was in Latin, and Mai was as familiar with Latin as a polar bear might have been with the Sahara Desert._

_Out of curiosity, she flipped Katsu's hardhat upside down and was surprised to find more – and shockingly familiar – writing staring back at her._

_In bold lettering, the following words were written:_

またあなたの夢の中でお会いしましょ う

"_**Mata anata no yume no nakade oaishimashou**__," Yasu read over her shoulder, startling the brunette into nearly dropping the yellow headgear. "That's weird. And here I thought she had a penchant for writing in foreign languages."_

"_There's something strange about that girl," Ayako stated, arms folded. "I'm beginning to wonder if there's more to her than she's letting on in regards to this case."_

"_It would seem that way," John agreed. "But if Kazuya thought she would be a problem, I don't think he would have allowed her to work with us so readily."_

"_There's something strange about that, too," Yasu said. "I mean, I know I was being entirely serious when I suggested that we let her in, but I didn't actually expect him to __**agree**__ to it like that. Do you think that maybe he knows something about her that we don't already?"_

"_Maybe…" said John._

_Mai frowned in thought. She personally didn't see anything wrong with Katsu: the girl was what she supposed a person could consider a mixed bag, but not too bad. The incident with Monk had been a complete misunderstanding, and she seemed to be really good at getting information so far. The only points against Katsu's favor so far were Katagiri's insinuations. And going to street gang members for information didn't come across as ordinary behavior…_

_Katsu __**was**__ pretty odd, the Mai thought about it… and she was so __**guarded**__…_

_Still…_

'**See you again in your dreams**…' _Mai frowned down at the tidy Japanese scrawl on the inside of the hat._ 'I wonder what that could mean…'

"_Hey, Mai!" Takigawa called out. "Hurry up before Naru decides to call back and complain that he wants more tea!"_

_Mai sighed, and placed her own hat atop her head before looking back into Katsu's hardhat._

_She let out a gasp._

_She hadn't seen it before (_'But how could I have missed it?' _she wondered), but she saw it now, just under the dreams phrase:_

ジーン

'**Jīn**?' _she couldn't help but wonder._ 'Who on Earth is **Jīn**?'

**…**

"You guys be careful over there!" Takigawa hollered to the three figures venturing towards the looming business building in the twilight. "That place is the most active, so don't let your guard down."

"We'll be fine," Ayako called out loftily. "You just make sure you don't injure yourself again. I can only patch you up so many times."

"I heard that, you old hag!"

"Would you like to add a concussion to your ailments?"

"You three be careful as well!" John interrupted, waving back a bit nervously. The monk sighed wearily and rubbed the small his back, silently wishing Ayako would have forked over the acetaminophen like he'd wanted.

"Hey, uh… Takigawa, right?" Mai snapped out her thoughts to find Katsu attempting to engage in conversation as they made their way to the skeletal apartment complex. The girl fumbled a bit with her flashlight. "Sorry for the beating I gave you the other night. I usually have better self-control than that."

He patted her head (or rather, her returned hardhat) and chuckled. "Hey, don't worry about it! You apologized already, remember? And besides, if I'd been in your position, I would've clocked me, too!" She gave a weak smile in response. "Oh, yeah, and you don't have to call me Takigawa – feel free to call me Monk, like everybody else."

Katsu looked at him incredulously. "Hold on… _you're _a _monk_?"

"Yup – straight out of Mt. Koya." He laughed. "Don't worry – you aren't the first person I've gotten this reaction from. My main gig is playing the bass for a local rock band in Shibuya."

Mai leaned over and in a theatre whisper said conspiratorially, "Monk's stage name is Norio."

The newcomer wrinkled her nose and cocked an eyebrow. "_Norio_?"

"Yeah, that's what the band decided to call me." Monk laughed sheepishly. "Hey, I know! If you want, I'll see if I can get you a ticket for one of our concerts!"

"Yeah, and they're really good, too," Mai added. "I've seen them play a few times. We can go together."

Katsu looked at the two grinning SPR members and smiled. It was a small, practically miniscule kind of smile – but it was warm and sincere. "You know… I think I'd like that."

"Then it's a date for sure!" Takigawa moved between the two girls and slung an arm each over their shoulders, pulling them in for a near-suffocating embrace. "So let's get to checking out this spooky place and get back so we can make Naru and Lin actually do some work like the rest of us!"

* * *

><p><em><strong>AN:**__ *The Japanese asset price bubble refers to 1986-1991, when Japan experienced trade in high volumes and stock and real estate prices inflated greatly; there was more money in banks, and loans and credits had become easier to obtain, which I suppose influenced the amount of spending. Everything following that, however, went downhill and Japan suffered an economic downturn that lasted from 1991 to 2000 – called the Lost Decade (though recently the years 2001-2010 are sometimes included, making it Lost Decades or the Lost Years). _

_Well, there's a lot of mystery surrounding the incidents at the construction site, but how much of is attributed to the supernatural? Mai and the others are about to find out in the next chapter, so be on the lookout! Special thanks goes to __**Cuz-im-just-that-awsum**__, __**Aoi Kitsukawa**__, and __**Foxgrl18**__ for your reviews and to everyone who added this story to their favorites and/or alerts lists – thank you so much! Feedback is welcome and appreciated!_

_Until the next chapter! ^_^_


	7. Case File 1 Pt 7

**Case File #1: Skeletons in the Closet  
>Part 7<strong>

* * *

><p><strong>July<br>Day 2  
>8:47 PM<strong>

If there was one thing Mai felt she ought to have remembered _other_ than the horror of Urado from the case at Miyama Manor (and even now she shuddered at the memory), it was Monk's rotten sense of direction when it came to being inside of a building. Or rather being inside of a building_ that wasn't of the normal persuasion_. It was bad enough that her own sense of direction was poor on the best of occasions, but having her father figure's senses all tripped up was disconcerting to say the least. And the shadows being cast about by the overhead floodlights certainly didn't help matters. Even though they _did_ have a copy of the floor plans given to them from Mr. Otonashi, they'd somehow managed to have gotten mixed up nevertheless.

To be perfectly honest, Mai felt that if it hadn't been for Katsu they would likely have gotten quite lost and would have needed to call someone.

After a turn round another corner revealed a set of stairs leading up to the unfinished third floor (ironically without the aid of the floor plans), Mai decided that she was thoroughly impressed. "Wow, Katsu! You really know your way around this place."

The interloper gave her brunette companion a sheepish grin. "Thanks, but it it's not that big of a deal. It isn't all that hard to navigate through until you reach around the sixth or seventh floor – then it's all metal skeleton and a mix of concrete and boards serving for temporary flooring in some spaces. I really don't blame Kaz – _Naru_ –" she wrinkled her nose a little at saying the youth's odd nickname "– for restricting everyone from going past the third level of either side of the complex. Everything's so much easier when it's daytime, but even then it's like tripping through a hedge maze. It's really easy to get lost in those upper levels."

"Speaking of upper levels…" Mai stopped suddenly, causing Monk to run into her. She staggered forward a few steps and nearly toppled into a slightly bemused Katsu.

"What's up?" Monk asked, pulling her back a bit. Mai shook rubbed her nose, which was a bit sore from the unintended impact with the back of Katsu's covered head (the two were of the same height, surprisingly), before looking at the bassist inquiringly and asking,

"What were you, John, and Masako doing up on the fifth floor earlier, anyway?"

Takigawa sighed before answering. "One of the cameras somehow got dragged up there, and I went to go retrieve it with Mr. Otonashi. The thing was trashed. And then Masako and John showed up, and Masako said that she could feel something hanging around. She went off to the side, and then…" his voice trailed off.

"Oh," was all Mai could say.

"And Naru's already chewed me out about allowing the both of them up there and not keeping a better eye on things, if that's what you're wondering."

"Oh." By chewing out, Monk likely meant the kind of low and disapproving lecture that only Naru could deliver: the kind that made a person want to crawl under a rock and wither away. That was quite possibly the worst aspect about their young employer – Naru didn't _need_ to yell at anyone to make them feel worthless.

Katsu frowned in their direction. "The verdict was a warped board on the scaffolding, right?"

"Yeah…" Takigawa said slowly. "But I don't know. I'm not saying it _wasn't_, but with everything that's been going on, I'm not so ready to just chalk it up as a simple accident."

"But wasn't it confirmed by the medics and the jobsite crew that it was the boarding?" said Mai.

"Well, yeah, but…" again the monk's voice trailed off.

Katsu sighed loudly. "Look, guys, I know you're worried about Miss TV Star, but that priest fella said she'd be okay, right? He doesn't come across as the type to fill a person with false hope, so I believe him." She offered them a weak smile upon seeing their saddened faces. "I don't blame you for being overly suspicious, though. There's a lot of strange stuff going on around here, and even if there wasn't, this place _is_ a little weird at night. Trust me, I speak from experience."

Mai giggled a little at the flippancy of the girl's last remark.

"A _little_?" Monk scoffed. "If you want to know the truth, I think this whole complex is weird even in broad daylight."

Katsu grinned broadly. "I'm glad I'm not the only one who was thinking that, especially since you guys are professional ghost hunters and spiritualists. I feel a little better now."

Takigawa and Mai exchanged confused glances before looking back at the girl.

"Why do you say that?" Mai inquired.

"Well…" Katsu hesitated. "It's the… _circumstances_ surrounding the building that used to stand here that I'm a little worried about. The fact that this all used to be an old tenement complex before it was closed down due to code violations and management infractions before getting diced up into multiple other things doesn't bug me as much as the amount of _stigma_ attached to that old building. A lot of the older folk had been muttering about it for a while. I was here in Nakameguro a few years back, and even _then_ they were telling us to stay out of the old building. I never listened to them before, but now I'm wondering how much truth there was to the warnings. Even though it isn't here anymore, it's like it never was destroyed or something – a lot of people were against it being torn down, actually. They said something about it at the neighborhood meeting about a year ago before the project started." The contemplative look on Katsu's face suddenly fell into stark realization of what she'd just said, and she clamped a hand over her mouth.

Takigawa looked at her incredulously. "Wait, you had background knowledge about the old building here and you didn't even bother to _tell_ us?"

Katsu laughed nervously at the unhidden anger laced in his tone. "Uh… oops?"

He slapped a hand to his forehead. "You're just about as bad as Mai," he muttered. Unfortunately for him, Naru's assistant caught what he'd said.

"Monk!"

The bassist grinned in her direction before allowing a strict and disapproving gaze to settle on the interloper. "As soon as we get back, I think you'd better tell Naru more about what you know. Trust me on this, Katsu: withholding information from Naru is one of the _worst_ mistakes you'll ever make while hanging around with SPR."

"Yeah, he _really_ hates it when people try to keep secrets from him," Mai added nervously.

Seemingly unaffected by this news, the interloper shrugged her shoulders. "If I think it's something he needs to know, I'll be happy to divulge some information. Information isn't something you can get for free, though; it's worthless otherwise. But right now, I kinda want to get out of here. We've only got a few more rooms left to go, so let's see if we can get finished in time to kick the Dark Duo out of the Ghost Cave so we can usurp them from their perceived thrones of omnipotence. Then we can bask in the glory of feeling almighty as _we_ watch _them_ on the monitors. I call the tall one's chair."

It took the two a moment to realize whom Katsu was referencing before they snorted with laughter. It was then in noticing the camera looking at them from a nearby room that Mai realized that there was no way Lin and Naru could have possibly missed the girl's statement. The microphone propped up next to it was too perceptive.

**…**

From his position in front of the monitors, Lin raised an eyebrow in slight amusement upon hearing their newest addition's words. His eyes looked over in the direction of his charge, who was currently submerged once again in said addition's notes. They'd both heard Katsu Shinomori's rather lacking confession to having omitted a few details, which had in turn prompted the young paranormal investigator to review what he'd been given. Lin could hear Naru's occasional mutters through his headphones.

As he looked back to the monitors, he found it difficult to suppress the tiny smile he felt coming on.

'_Unoriginal, but amusing. I don't believe I've ever been referred to as the __**tall one**__ of the __**Dark Duo**__ before…'_

Although, now that he thought about it, it sounded like something _he_ might have said…

The grin abruptly faded. Fond memories weren't welcome at the workplace. And now wasn't the best time to be thinking about…

He resumed his observations.

**…**

"Uh… I think there's something wrong with this scenario," Katsu stated after they'd walked back out into the hallway. They'd checked the last room on the unfinished third floor and could now head back to base to "usurp the Dark Duo", as she'd put it.

Monk and Mai looked down the corridor and frowned.

There was a door blocking them.

"Okay, where'd the door come from?" Katsu demanded, voicing the question running through their heads and taking an irritated step in the obstruction's direction –

And finding herself being pushed back by Takigawa.

"Hey!"

"You and Mai stay back," he instructed, pulling a strand of prayer beads from a back pocket of his jeans and walking towards the door. Katsu snorted, but did as she was told.

"This place is like an in-progress Rose Red …" she muttered under her breath.

"Rose Red? What's that?" Mai asked, unfamiliar with the name.

"A fictional haunted house," Katsu responded. "Kinda like the Winchester Mystery House and just as weird."

The mention of the Winchester house brought back a flood of memories from Miyama Manor: doors that led to everywhere and nowhere, strange pictures, blocked passages, the house having been expanded upon continuously over the years…

_Urado._

'_I don't think we should open that door…'_

She felt sick as Takigawa slowly reached for the door handle. He seemed to hesitate in opening it, but then like a whip he wrenched the knob and flung the door open, jumping to the side as if expecting something to fly through. They looked into the darkness beyond, each one of them unknowingly hold their breath.

Nothing came.

They breathed a collective sigh of relief.

A sigh they could actually make out as tiny puffs in the air as the temperature rapidly dropped.

**…**

A blare of static erupted from several of the monitors, startling Naru from his concentration as he pored over Katsu Shinomori's notes. He looked up and frowned, seeing nothing but electronic snow blitzing over a multitude of the screens.

"Which cameras were taken out?" he demanded, dropping the notes onto Otonashi's desk and pushing himself out of the CEO's desk chair.

Lin's expression was pinched and frustrated. "Every single one of those we had placed on unfinished third floor of the residential section. And there was a rapid drop in temperature mere seconds before the cameras were taken out."

Naru's eyes widened as realization dawned on him. _The unfinished third floor was where Mai's group was…_

**…**

The sudden chill that overtook them caused them to pause.

"Not that I mind the sudden spurt of unwarranted air conditioning," Katsu laughed nervously, "but I find this to be a bit unsettling, don't you?"

"A drop in temperature usually indicates the presence of a spirit in the vicinity," Takigawa explained, bringing his hands together.

And then the lights went out.

"I take it this is something spooks do, too?"

"You two stay close to each other; I'm going to try to drive it away."

"Drive it away?" Katsu cocked her head to one side, but said nothing as Mai tugged at her sleeve in a silent plea for her to keep silent as the monk began to chant. The two kept the beams of their flashlights trained in his direction.

"_Naumaku san manda bazaradan kan. Naumaku san manda bazara_ –" the chant went unfinished as rush of icy wind blew past, slamming the blond man into the wall. With a loud groan, Takigawa hit it hard, and fell unconscious.

"Monk!" Mai's eyes widened as the man slumped to the floor. She grabbed the fallen walkie-talkie and struggled to get it work with her shaking hands. "We have to contact Naru!"

"Don't bother with the walkie-talkie," Katsu advised calmly, clamping a hand down on the brunette's wrist. Mai looked at her in bewilderment. There was a surprisingly hard edge in what she could see of the girl's dark green eyes. "Spirits don't tend to mix with electronics, right? We're just lucky our flashlights still work."

And right on cue, the beams expired. Mai felt as if the entire spiritual realm was conspiring against her – this kind of thing _always happened to __**her**__!_

"Damn it. I spoke too soon," she heard Katsu grumble. "Me and my big mouth. Damn Murphy and his stupid law about things going wrong!"

"Who's –?"

Mai wasn't able to finish her question. The next thing either of them knew, there was a howling, followed by the same icy wind that had charged at Takigawa. They were pushed roughly into what they could only assume was a nearby wall.

**…**

Naru bit back a curse as he snatched up the walkie-talkie sitting next to his older assistant's laptop. He all but smashed the 'talk' button on the side. "Base contacting Takigawa, come back."

No response.

"Takigawa, pick up."

Still nothing.

'_Damn it…'_

"Hang on a second." Lin's voice snapped him from darkened ruminations. Naru looked at the Chinese man before following his gaze. Slowly but surely, the cameras from where Takigawa's team was located were coming back on-line.

All they could see was darkness, followed by a bright flash of light as the floodlights regained their power.

**…**

When the lights in the unfinished third floor corridor flickered back on, Monk shook his head in an attempt to dispel the dizziness that threatened to overtake him as he tried to stand up. Leaning heavily against the wall behind him, he passed a hand over his eyes and breathed evenly. His head was pounding fiercely – he swore that was going to murder Ayako for taking his acetaminophen.

"Hey, Mai? Katsu?" he said, voice coming out in more of a moan than he would have liked. "You two okay?"

He opened his eyes slowly against the bright illumination coming from a nearby floodlight, little dots dancing in his vision as he blinked fiercely to get rid of them. Yes, he was going to _kill_ that damned shrine maiden.

"Mai? Katsu?" he tried again. Upon receiving no answer from either girl, he pushed himself off the wall and made an attempt at steadying himself without support. He felt a surge of panic as he looked up and down the corridor, seeing not even a shadow other than his own. He stumbled about, calling for the girls, his voice rising with each syllable.

He found neither of them. Just the walkie-talkie, lying not too far from where he'd fallen.

'_Naru's going to kill me…'_

**…**

Mai felt her eyes blink. The only indication that her eyes had opened at all was the thin beam of light catching dancing particles of dust as they floated about. She tentatively reached out a suspiciously sore arm and grasped her flashlight in one shaking hand before making a feeble attempt to sit up.

As she did so, she felt a wave of disorientation come over her. Nothing looked right, even swimming. It was too dark, and there were no real walls – only support beams that flashed silver when the light hit them. Where was she? And where were Monk and Katsu?

Part of her answer came almost immediately:

"Okay," she heard Katsu wheeze to her left. "What the hell just happened? And where's Monk?"

"I have no idea," Mai admitted. Nervously, she moved the beam of her flashlight around the room, only stopping the movement when it fell upon Katsu's dusty and harshly breathing form. "But… I don't think we should stay around here for very long." She trained the light to the opposite side of the room.

Katsu hacked again, and Mai could have sworn she heard the girl spit and swear lowly. "I couldn't agree with you more on that one. There's something weird about this room – scratch that: there's something wrong with this whole damn complex. Monk was right. And considering we didn't get in here by conventional methods, it's probably best that we scarper ASAP. I don't think I want to run into any more spooks in this place."

"Neither do I." They scrambled to their feet and looked around nervously, their flashlights the only source of illumination. Wherever they'd landed, it was certainly not the unfinished third floor. They might not have been in the residential section any more for all they knew. No floodlights lined the hallway, and all they could make out were the outlines of the metal skeleton supporting the unfinished building, and the concrete slabs serving as the floor.

"Oh, crap," said Katsu. Mai looked over to find the girl scowling fiercely. "This isn't good. We're way too far up. They don't even have the wiring for the floodlights here."

"How far up do you think we are?" Mai dared to ask, half of her mind screaming in protest, insisting that ignorance was indeed bliss, and standing firmly on that belief.

Katsu didn't answer readily, instead opting for shining her flashlight about and twisting her face even deeper into the scowl. Then, she uttered a low curse and carefully stalked past the metal supports and along the concrete slabs. Mai followed close behind, keeping her light trained at an angle that managed to capture Katsu's retreating booted feet and the floor beneath them. The last thing she needed was to find herself alone in this isolated location, wherever it was.

Where was Monk? Where was everyone else? Had anyone noticed that the two of them were gone yet, or was the power still out down there? And what would Naru do to them once he caught wind of this? Get mad at them, obviously. Yell, if they were lucky. Threaten Mai's job, insult her intelligence. Katsu, on the other hand… she didn't know how Naru would handle her. There was a small voice in the back of her head that said no matter _what_ Naru said, Katsu wouldn't listen to him. Not entirely, anyway.

She was so absorbed in her thoughts that she hadn't noticed that her companion had stopped, and Mai walked right into her.

Katsu let out a yelp and one half-gloved hand darted out, grasped the nearest support beam and clutched to it fiercely.

"Watch where you're going!" she hissed, shooting a frantic glare over her shoulder in the brunette's direction.

"Sorry," Mai apologized, taking a quick step back. Katsu balanced herself and stepped back as well. "Where are we?"

"Well…" Katsu's mouth twitched. She looked uneasy in the darkness. "Let's just say that… I don't like heights, and I'm not very comfortable with how high up we are at the moment."

There was something in the girl's voice that didn't sit well with Mai. "How far up are we?" She took a step to where Katsu had been standing a moment ago, only to find herself yanked back roughly by the collar. "Ow!"

"Watch it!" Katsu reprimanded, and carefully guided Mai to the edge, peering down with her.

As Mai looked over the un-guarded edge of where they stood, she felt Katsu's hand clench roughly on the fabric of her shirt. Mai couldn't blame her for her fright: they were up high, too high for even Mai's liking.

"Wh-what floor do you think we're on?" she could guess, but she needed that comfort of hearing someone else's answer.

"Out of the sixteen or seventeen floors of this half of the complex? I'd say the somewhere around the twelfth floor, if not higher." The interloper gulped. "And that's just assuming we're even in the residential section anymore. The business section has twenty-two, I think."

There was deep and unsettling sensation settling in the pit of her stomach. Mai had never been bothered much by heights – find oneself several floors from the ground was a part of living in a metropolis like Tokyo. But there was a _massive_ difference in looking out on the city street, sturdy and finished construction between a one and the ground below, and the kind of plunge one would most assuredly take just by leaning over to far on an unfinished building.

And with the lights of Meguro surrounding them on all sides and the light coming from what looked like the trailer they were using as base looking more like a pinprick against grey… Mai felt a bit sick and dizzy.

"We need to find a set of stairs, a rope, or _something_ that'll get us down from here," Katsu said lowly. "It definitely isn't safe up here. Does the walkie-talkie work?"

Mai felt around frantically for the communication device, panic surging up through her skull as realization dawned on her.

"I don't have it anymore."

"Damn." It sounded as if Katsu would have liked to have made a more vehement and colorful ejaculation, but had refrained for Mai's sake. At this point, however, even the worst of swearing wouldn't have phased her. "Okay, let's just get away from this ledge and find a way down. They've got to have a stairwell or _something_."

Nodding in agreement, Mai turned with her companion, shining her flashlight to find their way back through the maze of metal supports.

She wanted to drop her flashlight in shock at the scene before. Instead, she froze. Katsu was the first to find her voice. Though what she said made no sense to the brunette next to her, as she didn't speak in Japanese.

"Oh, bloody _hell_…"

**…**

"You know, for the reportedly most active area, this building's been a dud so far," Yasu commented as they made their way down from the third floor of the business complex.

"Don't jinx it!" Ayako admonished, smacking his head (or rather his hardhat, much to his pleasure).

"Now, now," John chided gently. "Let's just go head back to base and check in with Kazuya. With any luck, Mai'll have something cool to drink waiting for us when we get there."

"I hope it's lemonade." Yasu almost drooled at the idea of an icy beverage – even at night, the air was warm and muggy.

"That would be nice," John agreed.

But the cheery atmosphere did not last long, for no sooner did they pass the second floor landing the walkie-talkie in Yasuhara's hand blared to life.

"_Yasuhara, Miss Matsuzaki, Father Brown – head back to base immediately,"_ Naru's voice commanded statically. _"We have a problem."_

**…**

"You've _got_ to be kidding me," Mai said incredulously. Katsu's peculiarly spoken exclamation wasn't unwarranted: before them lay a completed hallway, dark from the lack of illumination, but very much finished. Pale walls stretched out into the darkness, and doors lined the corridor for as far as they could see.

'_There's something about those doors…'_

"Closets…"

Mai looked up at her as if she'd spoken in a foreign language again. "What?"

The interloper's gaze remained hollow as she pointed, sweeping the beam from the flashlight along the unfinished corridor. As Mai followed the unwavering beam, she could see that the doors were indeed several sets of closets: sliding, regular, folding… it went on the entire hall!

"All I can see are closets," Katsu said again, brows knitted together in thought. "But why would there be…?"

A loud series bangs and knocks interrupted the girl's monologue. Mai let out a half-shriek as they grew louder, almost as if coming closer.

"Katsu… I think it's above us!" she gasped, involuntarily clutching onto the newcomer's jacket sleeve as her free hand shook violently. The flashlight she held trembled as well, the light creating erratic patterns on the rows of closets.

And then their beams flickered and died. Again.

**…**

'_Every time I turn around, that girl goes and gets herself in trouble…'_

This thought had run rampant in the mind of the narcissist as his dark blue eyes scanned the monitors for any sign of his airheaded assistant and their interloper, Katsu Shinomori, and continued to do so as he and Lin scoured the unfinished third floor of the residential section. Takigawa had stumbled back to base after discovering the two females had disappeared during the bizarre power outage, and now the entire team was back to Mai-hunting, with a dash searching for Katsu. Base was now entirely deserted, but not unprotected; Lin had locked the trailer door before they'd set out.

Naru groaned inwardly as he reluctantly tugged at the atrocious yellow hardhat over his head, Lin following just behind him. In just that slight motion, he could smell the scent of Mai's hair from when he'd plopped the deplorable item on her head the night before, and he could sense the unmistakable fluster that had overcome her when he'd done so.

He had to bite back a smirk at the sensations she'd undergone in that one brief moment, and forced himself back into the reality of the situation at hand.

He'd sent those three to the residential half of the complex because it had been inactive – theoretically, it should have been safe. But when one figured a certain Mai Taniyama into the equation, one ought to have expected things not to go according to plan.

Mai was a literal spirit magnet and a beacon for all things catastrophic when it came to their line of work; a veritable poster child for Murphy's Law if he'd ever seen one. He'd long ago convinced himself that he kept her around only for her usefulness (despite the hindrance she was) and curiosity he held in regards to her still-awakening psychic abilities, as well as the convenience of having an extra assistant.

Replacing her, however, would be an inconvenience. He'd yet to discover another person capable of making the kind of tea Mai produced.

Naru and Lin turned a corner on the first floor of the business complex, headed for the completed service stairwell. When those two girls were found, Naru would need another cup of tea. This kind of exercise was guaranteed to send him into the all-too-familiar downward spiral of caffeine deprivation and subsequent withdrawal.

**…**

Somewhere in the darkness, Mai heard her recently acquired co-worker gulp.

"I think we'd better get out of here soon," Katsu whispered. "I don't know what floor we're on or what building we're in or how the hell we got here, but if we don't get moving…"

"Something bad is going to happen," Mai finished, still gripping onto the other girl's sleeve. Overhead, the noises continued in rapid succession, each _thud_ and _pound_ rising in volume until they were certain their teeth were going to rattle loose.

Katsu gnashed her teeth together. "They're just screwing around with us."

"What?" Mai had to holler over the din.

"They're just trying to freak us out," Katsu responded, louder this time for the brunette to hear.

"But why? Are they trapped like Masako said?"

"_You're_ on the paranormal investigation team – you tell me!" There was another loud succession of pound and thuds, followed by what sounded like supports giving out and falling on the ceiling overhead.

"Run!" Mai shrieked, and yanked Katsu by the wrist. The interloper wasted no time in obeying, and the two darted along the hallway, their only objective being to get away from the mysterious noises as quickly as possible.

The time in which they ran was far too short – they quite nearly smacked into the wall that had chosen to materialize before them.

"What the – is this stuff _normal_ in your line of duty?" Katsu exploded, slamming a fist into the obstruction. She immediately retracted her hand and brought it against her heaving chest with a sharp hiss.

"No, not exactly…" Mai stiffened. The noises were growing louder. "We've got to find a way out of here…"

"Great. Find one for me, 'cause _all I see are closets_!"

_THUD. POUND. CLUNK._

The two girls froze. The din was slowly beginning to envelope them where they stood, each sound more pronounced and sinister than the last. And interlaced they could hear faint whisperings, mutterings. Spectral… detached…

"_Didn't mean to…"_

"_It was an accident… an accident, I swear!"_

"_I didn't know…"_

Cold seeped in through their skin. Mai shivered – why did these things always have to be attracted to _her_? Was she really the walking spiritual magnet Naru thought she was? What had she done to warrant this kind of insanity?

Tendrils of ice suddenly latched themselves onto her wrist and wrapped about her waist. With a strangled cry, Mai found herself being forcibly yanked forward. She whipped her head around at Katsu's loud curse, finding the other girl struggling fiercely, both hands appearing to be tied by some force at the wrist. Her lips were moving rapidly, and her hands looked to be making movements, but the restraints and violent yanking were too much.

Her free hand latched onto the lapel of Katsu's plaid shirt, and the two girls were suddenly flung through an opened door. Mai's head slammed into something. The darkness that followed was permeated only by the scent of fresh cut grass and rain infiltrated her nostrils.

**…**

_Strands of ash blonde flew wildly into her face as she struggled to get past the people crowding the door. She didn't want this to be real; didn't want this to be happening. It was a dream, a nightmare of the worst proportions. _

_He could, just __**couldn't**__ be…_

"_DOC! DOC, PLEASE WAKE UP!" _

_Someone's voice yelled over the buzzing whispers and mutterings, "Kenichi, this girl's a pain. Get a tranquilizer and shut her up, will you? I've already got enough of a headache as it is."_

_A latex-gloved hand grabbed her arm. "C'mon, kiddo. There's nothing for you to see he–"_

_She jerked away and tried again to dart into the room, only to be seized roughly by the arms._

"_He isn't breathing, sir," a woman's voice spoke lowly. "She shouldn't have to see this."_

"_Get her out of here!"_

_They were blocking her, keeping her away from in the man in the room. If they took him away… no! __**NO!**_

"_DOC!" she screamed with all her might, fighting even when the sting of the hypodermic plunging into her skin bit down. "LISTEN TO ME: HE'S NOT DEAD! HE'S NOT DEAD, HE'S JUST SLEEPING!" Darkness began to swirl, and the noises sounded as if they were coming through a tunnel. "Please, Doc! Wake… up…!"_

_The last thing she heard was the out-of-place sound of a jerky piano tune, playing in-time with what sounded like the beat of a metronome…_

**…**

**…**

_Mai's eyes snapped wide open._

* * *

><p><em><strong>AN:**__ The thing about creating a haunted construction site is how disorienting it can get – it's fun, but so easy to get everyone lost! LOL. Just where the heck could those girls be? Naru and the rest of SPR are going to have fun with this one…_

_Special thanks goes out to __**seiyuurabu**__, __**Aoi Kitsukawa**__, and __**Foxgrl18**__ for your reviews, and to everyone who added this story to their alerts/favorites lists – thank you so much! Until the next chapter, then! ^_^_


	8. Case File 1 Pt 8

**Case File #1: Skeletons in the Closet  
>Part 8<strong>

* * *

><p><em>Her world was an inky black, lit only by the tell-tale floating orbs that usually accompanied her dreams. Her body glowed, a clear indication that she was once again at the mercy of her unconscious.<em>

_She wondered vaguely if her dreams would ever be normal again._

_Several orbs drifted past her at a lazy pace, seemingly drawn to something to her left. Mai looked in the direction the orbs were floating towards and gasped._

_In a short distance away, orbs were gathering, drifting as if drawn into an upward spiraling column reminiscent of the DNA double helix she'd seen images of in her school's sciences texts, only without the ladder running down the center. Orbs ascended in the loop, reaching the top before falling gracefully and rejoining the fray at the bottom, repeating the process in a continuous recycling of orbs._

_It was beautiful._

_Mai struggled to see past the upward trend of tiny lights – there was something in the center. _

_A sudden thought occurred to her: Was this column a kind of barrier?_

_She took a tentative step forward, confused and interested at the same time. She no longer dreamed without seeing something of significance, and knew that whatever was within the spiral had to have been important._

_A few more steps revealed two people in the center, talking animatedly. It was hard to see them clearly for all the light given by the ascending orbs, but what she could make out made her pause._

_To her left was a pale young man clad in black – Dream Naru for certain. Mai was stunned to see him with his face strained and brow furrowed, talking rapidly with his arms extended, hands clasped on the upper arms of the person in front of him; the person to Mai's right._

_That person was a girl, probably around Mai's own age. She'd long and wavy ash blonde hair, more ash than blonde and quite unruly. The hair cascaded down past her shoulders to about her bra line, some spilling over her shoulders and Dream Naru's hands. It looked like the same color of ash blonde from her previous vision._

_Mai almost swore she could see his fingers nervously toy with the ashen tendrils._

_She shook herself mentally and refocused. Dream Naru's face was not in the least bit pleased from what she could make out. He looked upset and worried. The girl looking up at him merely scowled._

'Her face…'_ Mai struggled to get a better look. _'Even though it's only a profile, I know I've seen her face somewhere before…'

_Snatches of conversation broke her from her concentration._

"_You shouldn't… in the ether, Kat!" Dream Naru yelled._

"…_t my fault!" the girl snapped. Mai was stunned at the semi-familiarity of her voice. "I was… closet… and woke up here!"_

"_You n… areful!"_

"_I am!"_

"_No… two months! Spotty com… thought… find you! I was wor…ck!"_

_The girl looked astonished at his words. Dream Naru sighed heavily. The next thing Mai could see, he was leaning towards her. He looked to be whispering something. Whatever it was, it made the girl look down, bangs hiding her eyes. She muttered something that must have made Dream Naru relax a little, because he smiled at her and shook his head._

_Mai was confused. What was going on? Who was that girl Dream Naru was with, and where had she seen her before? Was she connected to the case? Was she another "guide"?_

_This dream wasn't making any sense at all._

_There was a jerk at her waist, followed by another, more forceful one. Mai turned and let out a loud yell, and struggled to break free. Something dark and ominous had formed behind her at some point in her silent observations of Dream Naru and the girl in spiral. And now it was trying to pull her towards it!_

_Brown eyes, frightened and wide, snapped back over to the two in hopes of gaining their attention. Part of her was elated, finding a set of dark blues eyes staring back at her. But the evident panic swirling in them did nothing to put her at ease, nor did the shock in the dark green eyes of his ash blonde companion. The strange girl was just as horrified and was rapidly muttering something under her breath. Tendrils of darkness spread over Mai's legs and torso, engulfing her chest and making their way towards her neck._

_The double helix of orbs fell abruptly, releasing the two from the center. Dream Naru made a break after her, but their fingers barely brushed against each other as the darkness wrapped itself fully around Mai, swallowing her entirely. Soon, all she could hear was two voices yelling her name in unison._

"_MAI!"_

**…**

**…**

_There was something unsettling about the scene before her. The room was illuminated by streetlights outside, their yellow and orange glow casting the strangest of shadows all around. The apartment was unsettling in its simplicity; it's comfortable appearance. _

_It __**wasn't**__ comfortable in here. _

_It wasn't the rumors. It wasn't the warnings. It wasn't the fact that she shouldn't be here, and neither should any of her friends. There was a warning aura about this place, one that she couldn't believe that they hadn't noticed. Masako at the very least would have been able tell… wouldn't she have?_

_The air tensed around her. Mai hugged herself tightly. _'This can't be happening…'

_It was all just for the thrill of it, right? Nobody gave a damn about what went on in here anymore; moonlighting couples came here all the time! Hell, she'd heard that two people she knew had actually done__** it**__ in one of the old upper suites! _

_It made sense to investigate. Curiosity was what drove all of them, after all. Listen to the stories and see if they were true – that was what __**drove**__ them. Live for the thrill and enjoy it while it lasts._

_But was that why they'd come here? Was that why they were all in trouble? She wasn't enjoying herself at all. Where was Naru? Where were the others? Were they at base? _

'What base?'_ she asked herself. A vague memory of a trailer on a construction site came to mind, but there were no trailers near here, nor were there any construction projects going on at the moment. Why would there be? Nakameguro was a residential district; it wasn't like Shibuya…_

_There was the sound of heavy footfall. Someone was running. Mai curled up into herself and backed away from the door leading out in the hallway. There was no time for her to close it – the footsteps were too near._

_Her heart clenched, like it was trapped in a vise. _'Oh, God… am I really going to die in here?'

"_Mai!" she jolted at the familiar voice, and cried out when she saw him skid in front of the door and barge in, slamming the door shut and locking it._

"_Naru!" she dashed over to him, finding herself in a tight and sudden embrace. "I thought you were gone…"_

"_I managed to get away," he panted. He wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her away from the door, eyes scanning for a way out. "Is there a fire escape by the window?"_

"_I didn't check…" The warmth of his arms disappeared as he went over to the window, looking about desperately before swearing loudly. _'I've never heard Naru swear before…'

"_There's no way out of here," he said grimly, tearing his eyes from the cityscape below and walking back to the center of the room where she trembled._

"_Wh-where are Ayako and the others?" she dared to ask as a set of black-clad arms wrapped around her small frame again. His grip tightened at the question._

"_I don't know, Mai."_

_There was a dull thud from somewhere below. The two looked down at the floor, still and silent. Mai clutched onto Naru's arms, sobbing and praying for this all to end._

_There was a shot. And then they heard a yell. It was too familiar and too nearby and sounded so horribly like…_

"_John!" she gasped, a new wave of tears overcoming her. Mai felt her legs give out. The only thing holding her up was Naru's grasp, which had grown even tighter than before. "Oh, God… Naru… John…"_

"_I know, Mai," he said solemnly. He swallowed hard. "He was with Masako."_

_A shriek followed soon after. Mai wanted to wake up – this was only a dream! Just a dream! A had to be! A nightmare!_

"_Does that mean Monk and Ayako…?" she couldn't bring herself to ask. Naru didn't answer._

_Heavy footfall ascended the stairs. Slowly. Deliberately. Why hadn't she run further along down the hall towards the fire escapes instead of crashing into the first room that wasn't locked? He was so close now…_

"_Don't make a sound," Naru commanded in a hushed voice. Their proximity would have caused Mai to blush considerably, but her heart pounded too much out of fear and she was so far into panic that her body was no longer acting properly. "We need to hide."_

_She nodded vaguely in agreement, and allowed herself to be half-carried to the back of the room. There was the sound of a sliding door, and Naru pulled her back against him. It wasn't until he had her against him firmly with one arm possessively around her shoulders and the other sliding the door shut that she realized where they were._

_They were hiding in a closet._

**…**

**…**

**…**

Semi-conscious, Mai stirred only slightly, a musty darkness the only thing registering in her muddled mind, along with yelling and pounding mere inches away from her.

"DAMN IT, OPEN UP! GET US OUT OF HERE, SOMEBODY! HELP!" frantic pounding and a loud hiss of pain. "STUPID SPOOKS, I'LL SEND YOU ALL TO HADES! _OPEN UP!_"

Rattling. Violent shaking. The sound of a radio on the fritz. Hacking. Incontrollable hacking and wheezing. Someone collapsing to their knees and having difficulty breathing. Muttering to someone… there was a name – was it to the Jīn she'd seen the name of on the hardhat? They sounded so lonely…

Mai felt herself mumble a name that didn't register. The person next to her responded in a whispery voice. Whatever the response, however, Mai lost it in the darkened recesses of her unconscious.

**…**

**…**

**…**

"_Mai." She looked up into a set of determined dark blue eyes. Naru was still there with her._

_He opened his mouth to speak again when a loud creaking sound across the hall caused them both to give a start. Mai very near to tears now._

"_Mai, I want you to stay right here. Understand?" She nodded as he released his hold on her. He put his hands on her shoulders and pushed her gently into the corner of the closet, reaching over and proceeding to drape a moth-eaten blanket over her. "And no matter what happens, don't move."_

_She caught his sleeve as he made to rise. "What about you?"_

"_I'll be fine. Just wait for me here. Hide. Don't make a sound." Before she knew it, he'd slipped out from the closet and closed the door behind him, leaving her alone and quaking under the holey blanket._

_Everything was silent. Too silent. It grated on her nerves. Had Naru left the room, or was he still there on the other side? Where was __**he**__? That monster…_

_There was pounding, followed by the sound of splintering wood and a loud crash. Someone breathing heavily had burst into the room, and from the light dwindling at the base of the closet doors, they had a flashlight._

"_Found you~," a voice practically sang, the light sweeping past the closet and off to somewhere Mai couldn't see._

_She heard something. A shuffle. Naru!_

"_They're all gone, you know," the owner of the voice said pleasantly. It was masculine, with a thin and almost nasal quality to it. Unassuming. "Every single one of them. Funny how you all chose to protect your girlfriends, when you always could have saved yourselves. I __**did**__ give you that option, you know. Pity you had to waste a lifetime for a moment's passing pleasure."_

"_Is this your idea of a pastime?" Naru's voice asked carefully. "Does anyone know about what you've been doing here?"_

"_My dear boy, nobody __**cares**__," the voice assured him. "This is private property and you happen to be trespassing; I'm only fulfilling my obligations as a landowner and as a taxpayer."_

_There was a click. Mai didn't hesitate. She slid open the door and scrambled out, but only to hear the gun go off and see a bright flash of light._

_And watch in stunned horror as Naru slumped pathetically to the floor._

"_NARU!"_

_The voice, the owner of the gun, turned and grinned at her in the darkness._

"_Oh, I know just what to do with __**you**__, young lady…"_

_Mai froze as he drew nearer, gun barrel pointed directly at her chest. A rifle. A rifle with a flashlight taped atop of the barrel._

_She wanted to run, wanted to scream, but wasn't able to do anything. All she could do was stare at the heap that was Naru, silently pleading with any god or deity that she wake up and find out that this was all a nightmare._

_She caught sight of one blue eye cracking open before a violently yanking came from behind._

**…**

"Lin." Naru looked over his shoulder inquiringly at his assistant. The Chinese man shook his head grimly.

"I've got my shiki looking everywhere for them. They haven't sensed anything yet."

'_Damn.'_ Naru desperately wanted to smash something. Even after hours of endless searching, they'd come up with nothing. He'd even gone so far as to allow them permission to check the unfinished fourth and fifth floors. He and Lin had gone even further: they were on the sixth floor of the apartment complex.

And still, there was nothing. Where the hell was Mai? And was Katsu Shinomori with her?

"We're going up another level higher," he announced, and continued to sweep his flashlight about, calling Mai's name several times as he and Lin continued in the darkness.

Lin himself was lost in his mind, half concentrated on his shiki as they roamed purposefully around the construction site, half concentrated on his eighteen-year-old charge. Even if Naru didn't show it, he was worried. Lin was worried, too; the last thing either of them needed (or wanted) was to have Mai Taniyama turn up severely injured in this place. There were a great many dangers on an ordinary jobsite; with everything that was said to have occurred…

Mai being a danger magnet certainly didn't help matters. And then there was that Katsu Shinomori.

Lin's brow creased at the thought of the interloper. There was something about that girl he didn't readily trust. Instinct told him to keep an eye on her. He'd already tried setting one of his shiki on her, and discovered that it hadn't been able to locate her.

That shouldn't have happened.

The two went back to the service stairwell and began the ascent to the seventh floor. So unnaturally lost in thought was Lin that he hardly registered the shadow creeping up behind him. When he finally did, he turned abruptly, ready to set his nearest shiki at whatever-it-was that followed.

There was nothing.

Frowning, Lin turned and proceeded to continue after his charge.

He stopped abruptly and felt his jaw involuntarily clench.

There was a wall blocking the way up.

"_What you don't know might hurt you…"_

"Who's there?" he barked, looking around for the source of the voice. The beam of his flashlight danced around the metal beams and concreted steps, revealing nothing.

He turned again.

"Noll!" he called out. "NOLL! _NARU!_"

Nothing. Absolutely no response.

Cursing, Lin turned and sped down the stairwell, whistling for one of his shiki to hunt down Naru as quickly as possible.

**…**

_Mai felt as if she'd been ripped apart; torn asunder. One moment she looking down a gun barrel, and the next she suddenly found herself off to the side and in the hallway with someone gripping hard onto her wrist. _

"_Wh-what… what happened?" she asked aloud, not altogether certain she wanted to know the answer. The disorientation from the odd experience of being yanked out of a body was only now beginning to dissipate._

"_I pulled you out before you could get really hurt," a feminine voice answered softly from behind. Startled, Mai whirled around. The pressure on her wrist lifted as she found herself staring straight into a set of dark green eyes with strands of ash blonde bangs framing them from above._

_It was the girl who'd been arguing with Dream Naru!_

"_Who are you?" Mai asked, struggling to remember the girl's face. It seemed so familiar – it was frustrating!_

_The girl chuckled nervously. "Let's just say I'm a freelancer of the oneiric sort and leave it at that."_

_Mai blinked. "But what are you doing here? And why did you…?"_

"_I'm really not supposed to be here, but I couldn't let you go through all that." The girl's smile wavered. "I think you're going through enough as it is, to be honest."_

"_I… thank you… I guess…" Mai bit her lower lip. __**She**__ was safe, but… "But what about…?"_

_The question died on her lips as the man with the rifle dragged a young woman with long caramel-colored hair out from the room. The two onlookers watched as the woman screamed silently, as if someone had suddenly muted their world._

_And then Mai realized it._

"_That was me just a moment ago…" she gulped. "Then what about… Naru…?" She looked back into the room, astonished to find that Naru was gone, replaced by a young man with spiky black hair that ended in bleached tips. He muttered something and forced himself out of the room, following the girl and the assaulter as best as he could._

"_What's going to happen to them?" Mai asked quietly, unsettled by this turn of events. She'd been in dreams where she'd been murdered (even now, she could remember the cold steel of the blade and the sound of Urado's rasping, "I don't want to die!"), but this left her a bit more shaken and disturbed. She'd never been __**pulled**__ out of a dream like this before __**and still remain in the dream**__! Tears were pricking the corners of her eyes._

"_They died, Mai," the girl said gently, noticing the brunette's distress. "It's all in the past. What you experienced just then was more like an RPG: you dreamed yourself in their predicament with the rest of SPR filling in the other roles. Just like a cast of characters in a play."_

_Mai looked at her. "So, Naru… Monk… they're all alive?"_

_The girl giggled, causing Mai to give her a frowning look. "Mai, I highly doubt that Kazuya Shibuya will die anytime soon. Guys like him don't die so easily. And neither will the rest of your friends." The girl ceased her laughter and offered the brunette one final smile, warm and gentle. "I know it hurts to see the ones you love play parts in horrible tragedies, but rest assured that they'll all still be there when you wake up."_

_Mai sniffed. "Really?"_

"_Really." Something in the girl's eyes shifted. "You're lucky in that respect. Not everyone has that luxury."_

"_Wait, what…"_

_The girl suddenly began to distort and fade. She scowled upon seeing this before turning back to Mai. "I have to go now, but you'll be waking up soon. But before I go, you have to promise that you won't mention me to Naru – not in reality, and __**definitely**__ not in your dreams."_

"_I –" Mai hesitated. Why did the girl…?_

"_Promise me, Mai!"_

_Mai nodded, feeling herself beginning to drift as well. _

"_I promise."_

**…**

**…**

**…**

**July  
>Day 2 (cont.)Day 3  
>Night early morning– time unknown**

"It's about time you woke up," a semi-familiar voice said in the darkness. "I was getting really worried there."

"Katsu?" the name came out a bit hoarsely as Mai pulled herself into the realm of consciousness. "What happened?"

"Put succinctly, _ghosts_." The interloper sighed. "Well, _something_ went and hauled us into one of those kooky closets and locked us in; I guess you could say they were ghosts. I saw you slam your head before you blacked out. You okay?"

"My head hurts, but I'm all right." Mai struggled to sit upright, finding her neck to now be sore from the awkward position she'd been sleeping in. "What about you?"

"I'm okay," Katsu replied loftily. "I'm just hacked off that I got tossed in a closet like some rag doll and now my wrist is killing me." There was a slight rustle and soon the thin beam of a penlight pierced in the darkness. Katsu extended her right hand in Mai's direction. In the light, the brunette could make out a decent bit of swelling and deep bruising.

"Did the ghosts do that?" she gasped.

"Nah, this is more my doing than anything else. The ghosts didn't help out much, though." She handed the penlight to Mai. "I actually injured it the other night when I punched Takigawa. He's got pretty tough jaw." The two girls giggled a bit. Katsu sighed. "But after we got flung in here, I must've gotten knocked out, too. When I woke up I just started pounding on the door and yelling for someone to get us out, but the only thing I succeeded in was screwing up my hand even more."

"You should have Ayako take a look at it," Mai suggested, guiding the beam of the light around, making out the edges of the confining space.

"I'm not too worried. I'll just wrap it up later. I'd do it now, but my bag isn't with me."

Mai blinked. She couldn't remember when Katsu had to put the thing up. She'd kept it with her practically all the time.

"But I'm not too concerned about my wrist at the moment. Right now, I'm more interested in getting the hell out of here and back down to that trailer you guys are set up in."

"Yeah…" Mai wrapped her arms around her legs and propped her head on her knees. She was worried, and a lot of the dream she'd just awoken from hadn't made much sense. They were still missing. Where was Naru? Was Monk alright? Was the entire team out and looking for them? Who'd that girl been? Why was Dream Naru acting so strangely now? Ever since the beginning of this case, there'd been something going on that she couldn't explain.

In her stupor, she hadn't noticed that her interloper companion had reclaimed her penlight. Mai found herself blinking fiercely as a bright, thin stream of light blinked in rapid succession in her eyes.

"Earth to Mai," Katsu teased. "You're name is Mai, right?" Mai nodded. Katsu cocked her head to one side. "Are you sure you're doing okay? You're zoning out on me, and I'm sure exactly how to deal with head injuries. I thought hardhats were meant to prevent that sort of thing."

"What? Oh, no! It's nothing like that!" Mai waved her hands in protest. "It's just that I… well…" she paused. Katsu didn't know anything about her dreams. But she seemed to have accepted everything so far…

Mai took in a deep breath. "You see… I sometimes have these dreams that have something to do with whatever case we're on at the time. Sometimes they put in the past and I see what's happening, and sometimes they're a little different. Kind of like… an RPG?" she used the phrase coined by the girl she'd seen in her dream before and looked up to Katsu.

Surprisingly, the interloper nodded. "I see. So you're not just a secretary and tea girl. That makes sense. I'd imagine that just about everyone on this team of yours would have something important to contribute. I take it you had another dream then?"

"Y-yeah. But it was…" she faltered.

"Weird? Strange? Freaky?" Katsu offered. "Dreams tend to be like that. It's okay if you want to talk about it. It'll take the edge off."

Mai felt that she must have looked ridiculous, looking at Katsu with her mouth agape.

Katsu frowned. "What's up?"

"N-nothing! It's just… well, how can you be so calm about all this?" Mai finally asked. "I mean, you act as if nothing fazes you. With everything that's gone on, I can't believe you're sitting there so calmly."

"If you want to know the truth, I'm actually severely claustrophobic."

Mai's jaw officially dropped. "_What_? But I never would've guessed with –"

"With how calm I am?" the interloped laughed dryly. "You _really_ must've been knocked out to have missed my freak-out earlier. Believe me: the sooner I get out in the open air and back down on the ground, the happier I'll be. But for now, indulge me. Tell me about this dream you had. You'll feel better, too."

Mai blinked as her mind turned over this new information. Katsu was _good_ at keep her emotions in check. She was a lot like Naru in that respect. The only difference, though, was that Katsu seemed to react in anger in instances that Naru would have merely acted indifferently. But at least she wasn't totally unapproachable.

Taking another deep breath, Mai relayed her dream, leaving Dream Naru out as usual and ultimately deciding to omit the girl she'd encountered. Throughout Mai's recount of the dream in the room Katsu remained mostly silent, nodding or making a facial expression as a way of silent reaction. She interjected only a little, asking a question or for an explanation.

"And after the guy pointed the gun at you, what happened?" she asked after Mai had paused.

Mai didn't answer immediately. She still didn't understand what had happened.

"I-I really don't know," she admitted. "One moment, I was staring down a gun barrel, and then I was standing in the hall, watching as the gunman dragged a girl down the hall from the room. I knew that I'd been experiencing what she'd gone through, but I've never had anything like that happen before."

Katsu frowned. "That's just plain weird. Did you at least get to see what happened next?"

"No. I woke up."

The two girls sighed and slumped against whatever sides of the closet they were sitting up against.

"Well, it's pretty obvious you were dreaming about the old complex that used to be here," Katsu observed after a moment's tenuous silence. "But as to everything else, I really couldn't tell you. I just used to break into the old place for the thrill of it. The old building had been abandoned for the longest time when I first went in there. Not even the local vagabonds would go in there. Just the strangers and us idiot kids."

**…**

Naru looked down the strange hallway with his lips pursed together, eyes moving left and right as he took everything in.

The hallway on the seventh floor was completed, and lined with what suspiciously looked like closet doors. When he'd turned to go back down the stairs, all he'd encountered was a dark wooded door.

Lin was gone. Naru hadn't faintest idea what had happened or how it had occurred, but it _had_. It was disconcerting – no _disturbing_. Lin was in-tune to everything that went around him, and was too clever to get lost all that easily.

And now the young CEO was trapped in the apartment complex, the exit gone and his only options being to continue with the aid of his flashlight or to open that strange door behind him.

Recalling Takigawa's earlier experience with a similarly mysterious obstacle, Naru chose the former option.

And that's when he heard the thuds. And the voices.

**…**

The two girls fairly jumped out of their skin upon hearing a loud thud coming from every side. Followed by another. And another.

There was a succession of thuds.

"_Please_ tell me you can hear all that," Katsu whispered, half hoping she was only imagining things, half hoping she wasn't going crazy. They'd been trying to get out of the closet for a while now, and hadn't had much luck. It felt like something was preventing it from sliding open.

"I heard it." Mai gulped. Were the ghosts coming back?

The thuds came to a stop.

"Anyone wanna try getting out of here again?" Katsu offered brightly.

Mai squeaked a definite "Yes!"

The two shifted their positions and began to tug at the sliding doors, Mai working on one as Katsu yanked at the other. But try as the might, the doors still would not budge.

They sighed and slumped down, Mai just across from Katsu.

"Okay, so they want us trapped in a closet. Thanks, we get the message!" The interloper yelled this last bit over her shoulder, as she was leaning against the immovable doors.

"I was in a closet in my dream…" Mai said lowly. "Do you think that maybe the two I saw weren't the only ones to have tried hiding like that?"

"Could be," Katsu acknowledged. "That would explain the closets… but why – hey, wait a minute!" she jolted upright so quickly that Mai wound up falling against the back of the closet.

"Ow…"

"That room you were in, the one in your dream," Katsu continued, clearly excited about something, "what did it look like? Can you describe it?"

Mai nodded. "Yeah, the closet was in the back, a little towards the left I think. And there was a kitchen to the right, with the bathroom just before it, and –"

"And two bedrooms on the far left with a full-length mirror in-between?"

"Yeah!"

Katsu let out a low, satisfied whistle as she leaned back against the doors again. "All _right_! Now we have explanations for at least two of the weird occurrences going on around here: the closets and the room that I kept hunting down for over a week."

"We're going to have to tell Naru about this."

Katsu scoffed. "Yeah, if we ever get out of this – _WHOA!_"

With a loud _umph_, Katsu fell backwards as one of the doors suddenly slid violently aside, a bright light shining down upon them. Mai blinked fiercely in the unexpected brightness and tentatively moved forward a bit. The light lowered.

"Oh, well fancy meeting you here," Katsu said sarcastically. "If it isn't the Prince of Darkness, cometh to collect two closet cases. Nice hat, by the way."

Mai looked past the bright stream of light and smiled broadly at the familiar figure. Part of her mind registered with great amusement that he was wearing Tomei Construction Company's issue hardhat, the unsightly yellow clashing horrendously with the rest of him (yet he still somehow managed to look _good_), but relief choked back any laughter she normally would have derived from it.

Naru looked down at the two girls and blinked, a vague amount of surprise and shock registering through his system.

Well, at least he'd found Mai. Thankfully, she hadn't been alone.

He almost sighed in relief. Almost. Hearing Mai chirp out a happy, "Naru!" was good enough for him at the moment.

But first…

"What are you two doing all the way up here?" he demanded, tone indicative of clear disapproval and slight anger. Mai frowned up at him as she helped Katsu up.

"All the way up _where_, Naru?" she asked. "We've been stuck in that closet for _hours_!"

"Yeah, and that was _after_ we ran into… uh…" Katsu faltered and looked around, snatching up Naru's flashlight from his hand and shining it around. "Isn't this the same hallway we were in earlier?"

Mai's eyes widened upon looking around as well. "Y-yeah, but… weren't we up really high before?"

"We're on the seventh floor," Naru supplied coldly, impatiently awaiting an explanation and receiving none in return.

Mai and Katsu shared an uneasy look. "But I thought we were on the twelfth floor…?"

There was a cold gust of wind, and the flashlight went out. Katsu fumbled for her penlight and let out a curse upon finding it too was not functioning.

_THUD. CLUNK. THUD. THUD. POUND._

"They're back again," Mai whimpered. She felt something grab her shoulders from behind. "N-Naru?"

"Is this what happened before?" he asked, having to raise his voice as the din grew louder.

"Yeah…"

All around, voices flooded in, the temperature in the hallway steadily continuing to drop.

"_Sorry… so sorry…"_

"_Didn't mean to see…"_

"_Had to look… had to peak…"_

"_See… had to see… just a little look…"_

Something in the darkness formed. Mai felt the grip on her shoulders leave, the warmth of Naru's hands fading quickly in the freezing corridor.

And then she was pushed hard in the stomach. The wind was abruptly knocked out of her, and the feeling of a set of arms wrapping around her waist and the thud of someone else hitting into the back of the closet as she landed against something firm and warm barely registered in her swimming mind. Her legs gave out and she collapsed against whoever-it-was behind her, the scent of tea and some kind of cologne alighting in her olfactory senses.

She heard the door slide shut with a definite slam and almost missed Katsu saying sarcastically, "Great. So we're back to _this_ shit again. Yippee."

* * *

><p><em><strong>AN:**__ I had a lot of fun with the dream sequencing. Considering Mai's powers are still developing, I thought it would be neat to experiment a little bit, rather than let things get repetitive. Dream sequences are something I love experimenting with. ^_^_

_Special thanks to **Foxgrl18**, **akjupiter**, and **Aoi Kitsukawa** for your reviews, and to everyone who added this story to their alerts/favorites lists, thank you so much! I'm really glad everyone's enjoying this so far. Until the next chapter! And please remember to R&R! ^_^_


	9. Case File 1 Pt 9

**Case File #1: Skeletons in the Closet  
>Part 9<strong>

* * *

><p><strong>July<br>Day 2 (cont.)/Day 3  
>Night early morning– time unknown**

Katsu shifted uncomfortably in the darkness as she tried to sit down cross-legged. But with Mai in front of her and no longer on top of the narcissist to Katsu's right, getting comfortable just wasn't an option (although the loud squeal Mai'd let loose upon finding herself in Naru's lap had been amusing, the interloper had to admit).

She sighed loudly and began to rummage through her jean pockets, finding the task equally as cumbersome as trying to sit in the cramped closet space. "They weren't kidding when they said two is company and three's a crowd, but for this to apply to being stuck in a closet is a bit ridiculous."

"I don't think now's the best time for joking, Katsu," Mai laughed nervously in the darkness.

The interloper snorted, still unable to find what she was groping for in her pockets. "Bull-hockey – _anytime_ is a good time to keep joking. How else do you expect a person to think clearly? You can't if you keep brooding all the time. Bingo!" She extracted the item, grinning despite the pitch black of their surroundings. "And let there be light!"

A flame burst up, revealing Naru's unemotional, pale face and Mai's wide-eyed stare.

Katsu smiled broadly in the dancing light. "Well, at least we know that ghosts don't affect lighter fluid! Not yet, anyway."

Mai, however, wasn't as amused by this revelation. "Uh, Katsu? _Why_ do you have a _lighter_ with you?"

One pale eyebrow rose curiously into shaggy dark bangs. "Why should I _not_ have a lighter with me? What's the matter? Pyrophobic?"

"Typically smokers and pyromaniacs are associated with carrying lighters with them," Naru supplied from his bit of darkened corner. In the dim, flickering light of the tiny flame, his dark eyes carefully observed his "volunteer".

Katsu gave him a dry look. "I'll have you know that I fall into _neither_ of those categories. And for your information, pyros and smokers aren't the only ones who carry matches and lighters with them. Think outside the box. This thing doesn't even belong to me."

"I merely stated common opinion; I never said I held the same sentiment," returned the narcissist.

Katsu rolled her eyes. "Yeah, whatever. Where's Mr. Tall, Dark, and Typing? I thought you two were joined at the hip or something."

"If you're referring to Lin, we were separated."

"That sucks, but I guess there's no use in worrying about it now. Okay, now let's see…" she glanced in Mai's direction. "You're still shaking like a leaf in the wind, but…" she looked back at Naru with mild distaste before she shoved the lighter in Mai's direction. "Hold."

An eyebrow rose in response, brown eyes holding a great deal of confusion. But she reached out for the lighter anyway –

Only to have a pale hand snatch it up before she could.

"Naru!"

The SPR director gave no immediate response, seemingly withdrawn into the tiny flickering flame.

Katsu frowned in his direction. "Whatever. I'm getting to work."

"What are you planning on doing?" Mai asked.

"The reverse of breaking in: namely breaking _out_," she replied, prying her thin fingers through the crack between the door nearest to her and the frame.

"But it didn't work the last time…"

Katsu shot her a dark look. "I already told you my issue with being stuck in here. And being stuck in here with _him_ –" she jerked her head in Naru's direction "– only makes matters worse." She went back to wrenching at the door, each jerk more violent than the last.

Mai frowned worriedly at the girl, and then cast a glance in Naru's direction. He merely sat watching the flame.

'_I sure hope Naru's alright,'_ she thought, heart wrenching slightly. _'He only got out of the hospital a few weeks ago and he hit his back pretty hard…'_

A low swear snapped her eyes back onto Katsu, who'd managed to cut herself on the old door, the slit going through her glove and into the side of her already injured right hand. A dark patch was forming on her glove. Katsu glared at the wound angrily for a moment before resuming her task.

Mai reached out a hand to take a look at the injury, but a black-clad arm came out of nowhere and grasped her wrist. She winced at the sudden contact.

"What happened?" Naru demanded gently, turning her wrist over before looking at his assistant's suddenly flustered face.

"I-it happened after the lights went out," she stammered. "Katsu and I wound up in a weird hall and started running from these thudding noises. We hit a dead end, and the next thing we knew, we were being dragged by these shadow things."

Naru's eyes flickered for a brief second before his gaze slipped back down at her captured wrist. He squeezed it gently, eliciting a small gasp from Mai.

"Does it hurt much?"

"O-only a little," she admitted. "But I think Katsu got the worst of it. We both got the same treatment, but she was already injured."

"That's only because I punched Takigawa the other night," Katsu said irritably. She let out a grunt and hit the door with her right hand, recoiling with a sharp hiss upon making contact. "What a night. First, we get lost in the dark; then, we hit a dead end, get dragged by something we can barely see, and _boom_! We're flung into this stupid closet and Mai hits her head and gets knocked out for who knows how long."

Dark blue eyes snapped up abruptly. Releasing Mai's wrist, Naru took the lighter with his other hand and let his free one raise slightly. Mai made an attempt to back away, but the close confines didn't allow for much movement. Blushing fiercely, she felt her heart pound more fiercely than ever as her boss's cool fingers ran through her hair and gently probed her scalp.

"I don't feel anything out of the ordinary," he said after a while. He frowned when she winced after he touched a particularly tender spot. "But that doesn't mean we shouldn't at least have Matsuzaki check over you. We wouldn't want you getting any more idiotic than you already are."

"Wha – NARU!"

The narcissist smirked as he retracted his hand, brown strands of her hair slipping gently through his fingers, unnoticed by the angered brunette. From her position at the door, Katsu snickered.

"Katsu, that isn't funny!"

"Yes, it is," countered the interloped, still laughing. "And now you aren't so freaked out anymore. Nice job, _Naru_."

Mai wanted to snap again, but deflated a bit upon realizing that Katsu was right. She was surprisingly alright again despite her situation. Naru seemed to have that effect on her, she noted upon reflection. He'd done much the same thing when they'd fallen down the manhole back at Yuasa High.

'_I guess Naru knows me really well.'_ She snorted mentally. _'Give it up, Mai. He's already told you at least once that you're easy to read. Like a book.'_

'_But some people aren't like that, though…'_

The small little voice in her head caused her to frown a bit in her other companion's direction. Katsu was still wrenching at the door, to no avail. Mai could see the steady thin streamer of blood run down her forearm, and it looked to be getting on the black-banded watch the girl wore on her right wrist. Her gloves were already stained through… and she was beginning to look pale…

"Katsu, you really should stop for a moment," Mai said gently. "You've done enough."

"Thanks, Mai, but I'm perfectly alright."

"No, Katsu. You're hurt, and I know you're tired, so just please –"

"Didn't you just hear me? I said I'm _fine_."

"You're lying." Dark green eyes glared in the narcissist's direction. Naru, however, was unfazed, and merely continued to appraise her in the flickering light. "You've already cut yourself, and now you're bleeding all over the place. You're showing signs of fatigue, a clear indication that the stress of the situation is already taking its toll. Also, your wrists are just as bruised as Mai's, only your right wrist is considerably swollen and likely sporting even deeper bruising further on in what's covered by your glove. It won't do you any good to continue injuring yourself."

Katsu scowled fiercely. "Look, I don't need you telling me what to do."

"Considering I'm temporarily in charge of you, I have every right to do just that."

"Like I really need your approval. I'm breaking us out of here, and that's all there is to it. As I already told Mai, _I don't like being locked up._"

"Neither do I, but it doesn't appear as though they're willing to let us out."

"So what? I'm willing to bust this door open, regardless."

"As am I."

The interloper's lips contorted into a sneer. "Well then why don't you lend a hand, _Narcissus_?"

Mai's eyes widened. Katsu had absolutely no idea what she was doing!

"No!" she shrieked, earning looks from both her boss and her companion. She looked pleadingly between the two. "Katsu, just stop. Naru's right: you're hurt, and you don't look so good. And Naru, don't you _dare_ do anything to put yourself back in the hospital!"

Naru's eyes narrowed. "Mai…"

"_No_, Naru! I'm not letting you use your PK and risk hurting yourself for something as stupid as a stuck closet door!"

The tension inside the closet was uncomfortably tangible as the black-clad youth and his assistant stared at one another defiantly, _daring_ one another to go any farther. They didn't notice the stiff panic the third occupant of their confines had undergone.

It felt like an eternity before Katsu found her voice again. "PK… as in psychokinesis?"

The two looked in her direction, both somewhat surprised at their newest addition being familiar with the acronym.

"Yes," Mai answered before Naru could, earning a sharp and reprimanding look from her employer. "And Naru's is too much for him to handle. He's already been put in the hospital for using it, and I can't let him do that again."

"That's enough, Mai…" The brunette shot him a dirty look, restarting their challenge of stares.

"I'm sorry…"

Only to be brought out of it again by a suddenly very subdued Katsu.

The two looked her again, this time shocked to see that her shoulders were slumped and her head was hanging.

"I didn't know. Sorry for provoking you." She then seemed to curl into herself, arms wrapped around her legs and hugging against them tightly. "You're right. I'm tired. I don't feel all that great, and I've been a real ass about everything up to this point. Sorry. I just really don't like being locked up. It doesn't sit well with me for some reason."

Mai's eyes flicked over to Naru, discovering that his attention was once more on the interloper. Looking back over at Katsu, Mai felt a mixed sensation wash over her. The case bothered her (they all did if she was to be honest with herself), but Katsu's involvement seemed to muddle things up in her mind. It didn't make any sense. Nothing did.

But at the same time, Katsu didn't seem so bad… just _strange_…

_There was a brief flash in her mind: a man with a rifle… and the girl that ripped her from his intended victim…_

"Hey, Naru?" His eyes shifted over to his assistant's direction. "I think I'd better tell you about my dream…"

"Good idea," Katsu said, setting her chin on her knees. Her eyes were fixated on the dancing little flame sitting atop the lighter in Naru's hand. "Maybe he can make more sense of it than we can."

**…**

Lin was good at keeping his emotions in check, but even that talent had begun to wear thin. He was now stalking about complex alone (something Naru would undoubtedly later gripe about, though at this juncture Lin couldn't have cared less what the boy thought), lowly cursing up a storm. Naru was missing, Mai was missing, and so was that dratted Shinomori girl!

His priority was to find Naru, pure and simple. And if past experience was anything to go on, he'd find the black-clad youth with his brunette assistant clinging to him. Typical. If Mai happened to be in danger, it was either Takigawa or Naru who'd come to her rescue.

As irritating as it could be to find his charge uncharacteristically putting himself in danger for the sake of someone (though it being Mai, he was hardly surprised), Lin ultimately decided that at least it made things easier for him.

Shinomori was another story.

Lin scowled. Why did Naru feel the need to take on a "volunteer"? The Shinomori girl gave mixed signals, and she was too odd for his liking. What was she doing hanging around a construction site at night for over a week? Why had she taken notes? What was the purpose of her searching for a strange room? And why had she been so adamant in remaining on the team? Furthermore, how had she managed to evade his shiki all this time? There was absolutely no way for that to have been possible unless…

He shook his head as if to clear the questions from his mind. He didn't have time to concern himself with a girl they'd be rid of soon enough. He had to find Naru and guarantee the boy's safety if wanted to keep his job.

He'd already radioed in the alert that Naru had gone missing as well. The others were looking. They'd find all three of them soon enough.

At least that what he was hoping for.

**…**

Naru listened silently through Mai's recounting of her bizarre dream, Mai again leaving out her oneiric guide and the girl with ash blonde hair. She'd also chosen to leave out the fact that in the dream she'd somehow seen SPR as the intended victims, something she saw that Katsu had noticed, but chose not to comment on.

Upon hearing of her being "yanked" out of the victim's body, Naru frowned. "And this has never happened in any of your previous dreams?"

Mai shook her head. "No. Never. That was the first time I've ever had it happen. It hurt… like someone went and ripped a part of me from myself." She shuddered, hugging herself suddenly at the memory. "The whole dream felt off somehow. Like it was missing pieces or something."

"From the way it sounded, I'd think your dream already had something going wrong with it," Katsu commented quietly. "Just from what I've heard, it's like your mind was half in the dream and half still in the present, like your consciousness to reality and your subconscious were getting mixed up with each other."

"I agree," said Naru, although the look he cast in Katsu's direction Mai didn't know quite what to make of. "Was there anything else that happened?"

Mai thought for a moment. Had she covered everything? It seemed so…

"_DOC! DOC, PLEASE WAKE UP!"_

She jolted at the sudden screaming of a little girl, earning her startled glances.

"What's up?" asked Katsu.

"I-I just remembered that there was another dream I had," she said, eyes widening. "I had it right after I blacked out, before dream I just told you about." She swallowed hard. "In the dream, I was a little girl. I-I remember seeing ash blonde hair –" _'The same ash blonde as the girl arguing with Dream Naru?'_ "– and I was trying to get through a group of people. I was trying to get someone important to me, and nobody would let me through."

"Did you hear anything?" Naru prodded. "A name or some indication as to where you were?"

"I heard someone say the name Kenichi… but I don't think I was in the same building as the man with the rifle."

"How do you know?" Was that panic she heard Katsu's voice?

"It didn't fit in right. It might've been a hospital…" Mai bit her lower lip, recalling the flooding desperation she'd felt. "I – the little girl I was – was screaming for someone. I think he died, but the girl I was kept screaming that he was only sleeping. Then somebody put me to sleep with a needle and I wound up in darkness with a whole bunch of orbs. And then I was yanked into the other dream."

"Do you remember who you were screaming for?" asked Naru.

Mai nodded. "Yeah. I was calling out for someone called 'Doc'. From the way it sounded, though, he was really important to her. It felt awful." She closed her eyes against the tears that threatened to spill over the renewed memory of anguish she'd felt go through the girl. Mai knew all too well the pain that came with losing someone important. Whoever "Doc" was had been extraordinarily close to the poor girl, she was sure of it.

When she opened her eyes again, her gaze landed on the girl across from her. Mai fairly panicked at how pale the interloper had become. "Katsu, are you okay?"

Before Katsu could answer, or even think to respond, the door behind her made a noise and slid open to reveal a thin strip of light coming from beyond.

**…**

"First we lose Mai and Katsu, and now Lin's lost Naru?" Takigawa sighed heavily. "Well isn't _this_ a good night for an investigation…"

_Whack!_

"Ow! What did I do _this_ time?"

"For starters, _you_ were the one who lost Katsu and Mai; that had nothing to do with the rest of us," Ayako stated, retracting her hand as the monk rubbed the bottom of his skull. "And secondly, what gives _you_ the right to complain? The only thing you've accomplished so far on this case is getting beaten up by ghosts and girls!"

Yasuhara snorted behind his hand in an attempt to cover up his amusement and failed terrifically.

"Hey, at least I _tried_ to keep things from happening! And Yasuhara, stop laughing!"

"S-sorry," the college student snickered. "Can't help it."

"Yes you can, you just don't want to," said Ayako. "Now let's stop dawdling and keep looking for Mai and those other two. They must be somewhere in this awful place, so let's split up again and go farther up."

"Good idea," said John, who silently thanked God that at least _passive_ civility had settled down again for the moment.

"Then I call John," Takigawa announced, grabbing the Aussie by the arm and startling the poor exorcist. "There's no way I'm working with an old hag or Yasu."

"Now that's just wounding," Yasu deadpanned. "I show you love and affection, and this is how you treat me?"

"Whatever." Ayako flipped her hair back off her shoulder, ignoring the bespectacled student's comment. "Better Yasu than a counterfeit monk."

"_Counterfeit!_"

"C'mon, mate, time to get back work…" John found himself all but dragging Takigawa away from committing homicide as Ayako sauntered off, taking her partner by the arm. Yasu waggled his eyebrows at the other two before allowing himself to be led away.

The monk growled angrily and shook the young priest off. "She can consider herself lucky that I'm more worried about finding the girls and Naru than I am about killing her, because if I wasn't…"

John shook his head. A joking murmur he'd heard once from Yasuhara when they were at the office was that Ayako and Takigawa acted like an old married couple. John didn't understand how that could be so: married couples were meant to love and cherish one another, not act as though they were in a caged fighting arena!

**…**

Katsu frowned and turned as much as the confining space would allow, using her good hand to slide the door open all the way.

She poked her head out and let out a low whistle. "Well, what do you know? Hey, Mai, is this the room from that sketchy dream of yours?"

Mai stood up, her limbs stiff from being cramped in such a tiny space, and leaned over Katsu, against the door frame. She had to blink several times for her eyes to adjust properly.

"Yeah, this is it."

It was: the door just ahead and slightly to their left, the bedrooms to the right… it was all there.

"Goodbye closet; hello, Mystery Room Supreme!" Katsu dragged herself out and scrambled to her feet, Mai right behind her and helping her in the endeavor. Naru came out right behind his assistant, snapping the top of the lighter and extinguishing the flame.

"Here." He handed it to the interloper, who mumbled a statement of thanks before pocketing the item.

Naru didn't spare her a look, opting instead to gaze at their current surroundings.

"Well… at least we're out of that closet," Mai said in an attempt to alleviate their newest situation.

"Yeah, but it doesn't change the fact that we still don't know where the heck we are," Katsu pointed out. She frowned down at her injured hand and pulled her glove off with a grimace. "Geez, this looks worse than what I was expecting."

Mai took the opportunity to grab the girl's hand and inspected it. She felt Katsu glare at her, but paid it no mind. The cut she'd received on the door was deep and looked horribly against the black and purple bruising surrounding it. And Naru hadn't exaggerated when he said Katsu's wrist was swollen.

"I'm _fine_, Mai." Katsu jerked her hand back. Mai's eyes narrowed up at her. "I'll clean it up when we get out of here. Right now, let's focus on getting back to the others, shall we?"

Mai frowned as the newcomer swept past her in the direction of the door. Katsu really was a stubborn one.

Katsu twisted at the doorknob. She frowned. She tried again, and groaned loudly.

"Great! We're locked in! _Again!_ This is totally ridiculous!"

"Well, at least it isn't the closet," Mai pointed out. Katsu looked at her incredulously before giggling.

"Yeah, and now I'm not alone in my observations as far as seeing this place in the dead of night. Meaning Narcissus here has to take my notes seriously, right?" she looked over in Naru's direction.

Naru didn't look back. Katsu frowned.

"Fine, then. Just ignore me." She sighed and walked back over to Mai. "Okay, so there's something bugging me about that you dream you had."

Mai looked at her questioningly. "Other than everything in it?"

Katsu shook her head. "It's about the victim you were momentarily role-playing as in the dream before you got yanked."

"If you mean how she was dragged away instead of shot, I'm interested in that as well," Naru said suddenly, earning startled looks from both girls.

"Y-yeah." Katsu leaned over to Mai, whispering, "Can he read minds, too?"

"That's something I haven't figured out yet," Mai confided, whispering as well. They looked at one another and shrugged before Katsu spoke normally again.

"The thing is, I'd normally say that he'd run out of ammunition. If I had to take a guess, I'd say he used a lever-action rifle, which are pretty common for sports hunters. You can get them just about anywhere. I've heard that they haven't got the best ammunition capacity, but I'm not an expert. I hate firearms. But honestly though, I don't think this is the case."

"And I would have to agree with you," said Naru, turning to look at the two. His eyes rested on Mai. "What was he said to the victim, again?"

"_Oh, I know just what to do with __**you**__, young lady…"_

"H-he knew what he was going to do with her." Mai gulped at the memory. "B-but he shot the others…"

"We know he shot the _men_," Katsu pointed out. "Two, at least. We don't know about the women. And another thing: he mentioned something about being a taxpayer and landowner, right?" Mai nodded. Katsu looked over to Naru, who merely cocked an eyebrow. "Wouldn't that indicate that at some point one of the multiple owners of the old building have instigated all this? At least it gives us something more to work with."

Naru nodded. "Yes, but it won't answer the question of what is going on here at the complex. Based on what we've experienced so far and Mai's dreams, the most we can ascertain at this point is that the spirits of the gunman's victims have remained behind even after the old building's demolition, thus bringing us to the unexplained events going on at the construction site."

"But why would they stay after the building was gone?" asked Mai. "I thought that after the building was gone, a spirit would simply go with it."

"If you honestly think that, you really are stupid."

"Naru! I'm being serious!"

A half-gloved hand rested on the brunette's shoulder, bringing Mai's attention to Katsu.

"Think of it this way, Mai: someone comes over and tears your house down while you're at school, and you come home to nothing but a pile of rubble later on. You'd be pretty hacked off if that happened, right?"

"Of course, but –"

"It's basically the same concept," Naru interrupted, casting Katsu an odd glance.

"I don't get it."

"A spirit doesn't like its home disturbed either," Katsu explained patiently. "Tearing down the old building didn't do anything except maybe make the site even more active. Like I told you and Takigawa before, this place has had a reputation for being haunted for a long time now. I suppose you could think of the incidents with the work crew as a form of protest."

"That would be an acceptable way of putting it," commented Naru, still looking at her oddly. This didn't go unnoticed by Katsu, though she certainly didn't act as if she'd seen it.

"So in other words… tearing down the building only disrupted them and made them more active, right?" Mai looked at the other girl hopefully.

Katsu grinned and nodded. "Yup. You've got it."

Mai grinned back, but felt it slip abruptly. Her breath was coming up in tiny puffs again…

Katsu saw this as well and frowned. "Great, the temperature's dropping again…"

**…**

"_Lin, John and I are on the fifth floor and haven't found anything. Want us to go up any higher?"_

"Yes. If you find nothing on the sixth floor, then come back down and see if you can get to the third floor in the apartment complex section."

"_Roger that."_

"_Hey, Lin?"_ Yasuhara's voice came in over the radio. _"Have you seen anything yet on the cameras?"_

The Chinese man groaned before answering. "No, Yasuhara. There's absolutely nothing on the monitors, and my shiki haven't detected anything."

"_Whoa, take it easy, Lin!"_ Takigawa's voice came back, having caught the venom in the man's tone. _"Naru's a smart guy and Mai's probably with him. And if Katsu's with them, I can personally guarantee that whatever goes after them will be in for a world of pain."_

Lin did his level best to ignore the nervous laughter that went over the radio before it cut out again. They really didn't understand his position, did they? The only reason he even went back to base was to see if the cameras had even caught a glimpse of Naru or the girls, and he'd discovered nothing.

"Take it easy," Takigawa said. How he did expect Lin to do that, exactly?

**…**

"Th-there's something wrong about this chill," Katsu chattered, hugging herself around the arms as she leaned back against the nearest wall. "I don't like it."

"C-c-can we get out?" Mai stammered back, sitting next to her.

Katsu moved back to the door, twisting the handle and heaving against it before shaking her head. They were stuck again.

Katsu sighed and resumed her place next to the brunette, sinking down and falling on her bottom ungracefully. "This is so screwed up. I'm never investigating a haunted construction site again." She began hacking again, causing Mai to frown in worry.

"Katsu, are you –" she was interrupted by a flutter of black and squeaked as she felt something settle around her and Katsu's shoulders.

She looked up, astonished to find Naru looking down at them gently. He was lacking his jacket.

"Just stay there. I'll see if I can open the door."

He started towards the door –

And was stopped as a half-gloved hand shot out and grabbed him by the wrist. Naru's eyes narrowed.

"Miss Shinomori…"

"No 'Miss', Narcissus," Katsu said, bringing herself back up to her feet and pulling Naru to where she'd been before releasing his wrist. "Call either me 'Katsu' or 'Shinomori'. No more formalities. Now sit down like a good little researcher and let me break us out of here."

"Why can't you do as you're told and let me handle things?" he demanded, finally giving in slightly to his frustration with the girl.

Katsu met his disapproving gaze with a devilish grin as she produced a screwdriver from her pocket. "There's more than one way to open a door, you know. Taking off the doorknob should be easy. And if that doesn't work, I'm taking it off of its hinges."

She walked back over to the door and knelt before it, setting to her task.

"And just for the record," she said after a moment, "I'm doing this to feel like I'm doing something useful. I'm your volunteer for this wacko assignment, so I may as well contribute a bit more than I have been. All I've done so far is cause you guys trouble, so I figure I should make up for it."

Naru sighed after a moment and sank down next to Mai. He stiffened a bit and cast a quick glance in her direction upon feeling his own jacket going around him.

"Mai…" he began warningly.

"I'm not letting you freeze because of me," Mai snapped. Thus ended any argument that might have begun. Naru simply didn't see the need for provocation. He had too much on his mind at the moment.

For a time they sat, the assistant and the narcissist beneath the latter's jacket and the interloper several feet away, at first removing the doorknob and now working on the door hinges.

And slowly but surely, the temperature continued to drop.

"I-it's so c-cold," Mai tried to say through chattering teeth. She hugged her arms around herself tightly, trying to preserve her body heat in the sudden freeze. But the sweat against her skin only made things worse, and the fact that she'd worn only jeans, sneakers, and an old tank top didn't help any. Even with the warmth of Naru's jacket and Naru's body heat from the side, she felt like it was the middle of the winter and she'd walked outside in full summer attire.

"How much longer, Shinomori?" Naru demanded after hearing this complaint.

Katsu made to open her mouth, but a sudden gust of frigid air halted her. She dropped her screwdriver and fell to her knees, forehead pressed against the door as she breathed heavily.

"Not much… longer." She gulped, paling significantly. "If I can stay awake… I don't feel well…"

"Then sit here with Mai. I'll finished it up." He made to get up, but was halted by a shivering hand grasping his shirt. His eyes widened. "Mai?"

"N-N-Naru…" she couldn't stop shivering. That gust had gone right through her, rendering her unable to breathe and unable to feel. All she knew was that her source of heat was going to leave and she couldn't bear the thought of it.

Inside, Naru was panicking. He was trying to do his best on figuring the situation out and at the very least getting Mai to safety. But her sudden downturn here frightened him to say the least.

He heard a thud and snapped his head in the direction of the door. Katsu was laying on her side, unconscious and shivering.

This wasn't good. In such a short frame of time, this oughtn't to have been happening.

He wrapped his arm around his assistant and pulled her close against him, feeling the iciness of her skin seep through his clothes.

Not good at all.

"Naru…" his insides jolted at her weakened voice. "I'm so tired…"

"Don't go to sleep, Mai."

"I-I'm sorry, Naru," she muttered, slumping against him. "I can't help it…"

"Mai!"

**…**

**…**

**…**

"_Mai… Mai…"_

_Her eyes fluttered opened, finding a concerned set of dark blue orbs staring back at her from under ebony bangs._

"_Naru…" she smiled wanly. "I'm sorry. I fell asleep when you told me not to."_

_He smiled back warmly at her and brushed a few stray bangs back from her forehead. "It's alright. You couldn't help yourself." He extended a hand. "Can you sit up?"_

"_I can try." She took the offered appendage and slowly rose, feeling his free hand pressing gently against her back for support. Once she was sitting up properly, she smiled in thanks and looked about._

_This time, they weren't in the dark abyss as usual. They were floating above a concrete room, somewhere Mai only vaguely recognized._

"_Isn't this the basement?" she asked, looking over to her guide._

_Dream Naru nodded._

_Frowning, Mai continued to look around. _'What are we doing in here?'

_It was a moment before her eyes landed on a semi-familiar figure, one that she hadn't seen at all her dreams since meeting the enigmatic interloper._

_Katsu._

"_What is Katsu doing in basement?" Mai asked aloud. "I thought she was in the disappearing room with us!"_

"_She still is with us." Dream Naru nodded in an opposite direction, indicating two prone figures on the floor. Mai could barely see to tell, but she knew that they were both Naru and herself._

"_But how did we…?"_

"_Ka- Shinomori is in trouble." Her guide's words snapped her attention back to the interloper on the other side of the room. Mai's eyes went wide upon seeing a tell-tale dark black foxfire flaring up violently only mere feet away from the interloper, Katsu either completely ignorant to it or captivated by it – whichever was the case, Mai couldn't tell. The girl wasn't moving. She couldn't see Katsu's face._

"_Katsu, get away from that thing!" Mai yelled, trying to get the girl's attention. "You'll get hurt if you let it touch you!"_

_Katsu seemed to snap out of her daze, and her head whipped round, dark green eyes scanning the immediate area before…_

_She locked eye contact with Mai._

_Mai froze. Could Katsu see her? It wasn't possible! Was she astral projecting, like when she'd given Masako the key in Miyama Manor? Was it…?_

_She didn't have time to wonder any more. A dark mass reached out from the foxfire and latched onto Katsu's already injured arm, tensing to drag her back. Katsu's eyes widened considerably and the girl spun around, struggling against the force. There was a suddenly wavering, and hundreds of orbs floated into view, bursting into Mai's vision and nearly blinding her._

"_Go back, Mai!" she could hear her guide shout. "Wake up!"_

**…**

**…**

**…**

Meanwhile, back at base, the cameras in the basement of the business section erupted in static and digital snow. Lin took notice and seized the radio, yelling at the others to hurry in that direction

**…**

Mai awoke with a gasp and immediately began to cough, the dirt and dust from the floor she was on having gone into her lungs too fast. An arm already latched around her waist gripped her tightly from behind, pressing her up against something. It felt vaguely familiar.

"Calm down, Mai," Naru's voice gently commanded, his breath flowing past her ear and sending a shiver down her spine.

It felt like an eternity before the coughing finally stopped. Mai took several deep breaths, each one causing her to wince as her throat was sore and her chest felt like lead. Then she remembered why she'd woken up so suddenly.

"Katsu!" she started coughing again, Naru's grip tightening even more. Mai could only vaguely wonder how they'd wound up in this position.

"I'm here," came the weak response.

"Are you okay?" Naru's voice inquired, any traces of concern he might've had absent in asking.

"Yeah…" Katsu answered detachedly. "It's just… my arm…"

"It burned her, Naru," Mai said softly. "I saw it in my dream. It was a foxfire. It tried to grab her and pull her in." She curled up and began to sob, her breath coming out hitching and in wheezes.

Naru looked down at her before casting his gaze back at his unwanted volunteer. Katsu was sitting on the ground, looking more-or-less like a broken doll. Her gaze was fixated on her right arm, which sported a bright red burn that went up her forearm. The sleeve of her shirt was singed and the glove on that hand was ruined. The black-banded watch was the only thing remotely intact and even that hadn't been left unscathed. It would need a new band for certain.

His eyes lingered on the watch for a moment, something stirring in his memory. Where had he seen that watch before?

Naru's thoughts were interrupted once again, as the sound of shouts and the waving beams of flashlights pierced through the dimly lit basement.

"We're down here!" he called out, and began to cough as well. Warmth was beginning to seep back into him, and he held Mai even tighter against him, telling himself the action was only out of relief of not losing his ticket to the nice cup of tea he knew he'd need as soon as they got back to base and they were all tended to. When had he fallen asleep? He could hear Lin's voice well above the voices of the others.

For how long had they been missing, anyway?

* * *

><p><em><strong>AN:**__ Hehehe… I love coming up with Ayako/Takigawa interactions, especially when Yasu's in the vicinity! XD Trying to keep people like Lin and Naru in-character can be pretty difficult, though. I actually find Lin to be possibly the hardest out of all of them, considering what little is revealed about him in the anime. I'm really glad I've managed to do well thus far. ^_^_

_In one of the reviews, Katsu was mentioned as being odd. Actually, this was rather my intention to make Katsu seem strange. She might be a bit unlikeable at this point, but as the story and cases progress, more of her real personality will come out. I promise that there is a great deal more to her than meets the eye, but as to what her role in everything is, that must remain as secret. ;) In regards to Katsu herself, I really appreciate the feedback that I've gotten on the character so far. It's really helpful to gain some insight on my readers' opinions when it comes to original characters. ^_^ _

_Out of curiosity (and plot necessity), would anyone happen to know at what age Gene died, and where he was? I've seen age estimations between 15 and 17, but in the anime, Naru is 17 when Mai meets him, and all I know is Gene was on a road, was hit by a car, and was thrown in a lake by the driver. I've looked at what other fan fiction authors have come up with, but would greatly appreciate for any information you guys could provide. _

_Special thanks goes out to __**lil whit**__, __**Foxgrl18**__, __**Tbonechick2011**__, __**Aoi Kitsukawa**__, __**HelloImRenee**__, and __**Moons-Chan**__ for your input and reviews, and the same to everyone who is taking the time to read this little fic, adding it to your favorites/alerts lists – thank you so much! Until the next chapter, then! ^_^_


	10. Case File 1 Pt 10

**Case File #1: Skeletons in the Closet  
>Part 10<strong>

* * *

><p>Mai sipped on her cold bottled water, sunk in Katagiri's chair back at base and feeling thoroughly exhausted. She'd been cleared by Ayako after the priestess had examined the girl's head, declaring that it was only a bump on the head and nothing too serious (although even after taking a couple of Takigawa's confiscated painkillers, Mai still could feel the pounding in her skull). The poor brunette had then been placed almost gently aside and then Ayako moved to Naru, who merely shook the woman off and indicated in a rather lofty tone of voice that there was another person who'd needed her attentions more so than he. Remembering Katsu, who was currently laying on the couch and being practically pinned by Takigawa gripping her shoulders in an attempt to keep her down, Ayako gave a start, belittling herself loudly before she began her ministrations.<p>

Their return to base had been almost to the point of embarrassing, Mai couldn't help but feel as she watched Katsu struggle weakly against the combined might of the monk and the miko as she was examined. The rest of the SPR team had dashed into the basement in a dead rush, and a couple of them (namely Monk and Yasu) had stumbled before properly stopping. Lin and Takigawa had rushed immediately towards her and Naru, while Yasu and John made a dash for Katsu. Naru had managed to pick himself up just fine, though he coughed quite a bit after being on the filthy concrete floor. Mai had been scooped up into Takigawa's arms before she could protest, and then set on her feet. She'd wavered a bit upon standing, but a firm set of hands on her shoulders quickly put her to right. Then Ayako yelled, revealing that Katsu couldn't stand at all. Mai's warm and firm support gripped her shoulders tightly in reaction as they both saw John and Yasu trying to support the semi-conscious rag doll that was Katsumi Shinomori.

Noticing Katsu's arm and deeming it best to rule out helping her walk, Yasu wound up carrying interloper out on his back, voicing his shock at how light the girl was. Katsu must not have been well at all, as she hadn't said anything beyond a feeble, "Put me down, Four-Eyes". Her attempt to smack the bespectacled student upside the head was half-hearted and easily stopped by John. The priest kept a hand on the girl's back to prevent her from slipping, as her grip was just as weakened.

And now here they were, Naru being… well, Naru, and Katsu being fussed over, which clearly didn't sit well with the argumentative tomboy. Even if she was pretty banged up, the girl was still a fighter. Now roughly thirty-five to forty minutes after being rescued and relaying everything they'd experienced (including Mai's strange dreams and nobody coming up with anything conclusive), she was very near to being herself again.

"It isn't _that_ bad!" Katsu protested, attempting to yank her right arm away again. "I'll just slap some aloe vera gel on it and it'll be fine!"

"Aloe vera is only good for soothing the pain of a mild burn or skin irritation," Ayako snapped, one hand holding onto Katsu's injured wrist and the other fishing about in her kit. "This is a second-degree burn that'll take two or three weeks to heal! It needs an antibiotic ointment, creams, and clean dressings. Luckily for you, I just happen to have some of this stuff with me. But it won't be enough – you'll still need to have a physician look at it. That and that cut on your hand."

Katsu frowned, but didn't respond. Instead, she settled back down against the pillow-laden armrest and closed her eyes. She tried to hide it, but there was a look of pain etched onto her features; she looked like she was still having a bit of time breathing, and her face was still on the pallid side.

Mai frowned to herself in thought, her mind once again returning to the questions she'd had up to this point. They all dealt with either the case or Katsu; at the moment, all of them were mashed up together.

She sighed and closed her eyes; she pressed the now closed water bottle against her forehead, the cool and wet plastic soothing against her skin. All she wanted right now was to fall asleep in the air conditioning. No ghosts, no heat, no creepy and winding unfinished building…

"Hey, Narcissus?" Naru looked up from his usual black folder to find a set of dark green eyes looking in his direction.

"Shinomori," he acknowledged.

"I was just thinking about something," she said. She winced visibly as Ayako continued to clean the burn, but chose to keep her gaze focused on the SPR leader. "In the basement, where that… _thing_ tried to grab me? There was something weird about that section."

"That would be an unnecessary point to make, seeing how you fared," he pointed out, uninterested.

She glared daggers in his direction. "Watch it, Narcissus."

"Now, now, Katsu," Monk said soothingly, using one hand to pat her on the head gently. "Don't get all mad at Naru."

She looked up at him wryly, and then sighed dejectedly. "Never mind. Just forget I ever said anything."

Naru looked up from his notebook briefly, eyes flitting over her prone form before closing the notebook.

"I think it would be best if we all retired for the night – or rather morning, seeing as it's two hours past midnight. We'll regroup tomorrow at nine."

The others nodded in agreement.

"Will you be able to make it home alright, Katsu?" Takigawa inquired as he helped the dark-haired girl to sit upright. "If you want, I can always give you a lift."

"Shinomori will be going back to the hotel with us," Naru answered swiftly. "Miss Hara's bed is vacant; she will use that for the time being. That way Miss Matsuzaki can keep an eye on her injuries."

"Hey, I can make my own way just fine!" the interloper stood abruptly to challenge the prodigy, only to sway and fall backwards into Takigawa's outstretched arms.

"And just for _that_ little stunt, missy, you're _definitely_ coming with us," the monk reprimanded, earning a twisted scowl from the girl he'd caught.

"Just give me a minute, would you?"

"You're getting a night," Ayako said firmly, standing with her arms folded before her latest patient. "All three of you are." Her eyes flashed momentarily at Naru and Mai before settling back on Katsu. "And no arguments."

Two set of jaws clenched at that command. Mai wasn't very surprised: Naru didn't like being bossed around, and it was clear that Katsu was very similar to him in this respect. But for Naru to have suggested turning in so readily and demanding that Katsu stay with them…

"Let's shut down things for now and head back the hotel," said the narcissist, and it was with one final glance in his "volunteer's" direction that the conversation had ended.

**…**

Mai sank back gratefully into the firm western mattress she'd procured for herself in the hotel room, breathing in the scent of crisp, fresh, and cool linens. She closed her eyes and enjoyed the air conditioning.

"Are you _sure_ it's okay for me to take Miss TV Psychic's bed?" One brown eye cracked open to the bed on her right, finding Katsu sitting rigidly on the edge of the mattress.

Mai sighed inwardly. Was Katsu in that big of a hurry to get away from them? "It's _fine_, Katsu. Don't worry about it; Masako's still in the hospital, so the bed is open. Besides, I don't think Ayako is going to let either of us out of her sight after that runaround in the complex, so it's probably best that you just settle in for the night." She sat upright and grinned. "Hey, I know! Just think of it as a sleepover!"

Katsu frowned. "A sleepover?"

Mai nodded. "Yeah. Only I forgot to bring the snacks and movies."

The interloper snorted and Mai laughed as well, soon filling the room with a set of giggles.

"Well, I'm to hear that the two of you are doing alright," Ayako said, coming from the bathroom with a towel over her head. "Mai, you can go ahead and take a shower. I want to give Katsu another quick checkup and then I have to see to that idiot monk in the next room over."

"Okay, Ayako." Mai jumped up and grabbed her things. "I'll be out in a few minutes, Katsu."

"Take your time," Katsu said dismissively, leaning up against the headboard as Ayako began undoing the wraps on her arm.

Mai closed the door, barely hearing the conversation taking place. Not too long after, she heard Ayako leave the room.

After finishing her shower, Mai walked back into the room and automatically flopped back onto her comfortable mattress, closing her eyes in contentment.

"Hey, Mai?" The brunette looked up at her strange companion curiously, finding the curious dark green eyes looking at her a bit hesitantly.

"What's up?"

Katsu bit her lip. "It's about what I was going to tell Narcissus back at the site…"

Mai sat up. "What is it?"

"Well… you know how I said there was something weird about that section of the basement?" Mai nodded. "What I meant was that where that thing showed up, it wasn't just that it _felt_ really weird. Before everyone came crashing in, I saw something off about the floor."

"Like what?"

"Er… how do I explain this?" Katsu shifted her position, sitting cross-legged and now facing her newly acquired roommate. "I've been in the old building before, right? Only I've never been in the basement level because it was always blocked off. I could never get in. Now, I'm not sure if I'm right about this, but I think that the construction workers might have preserved the old basement and just expanded on it for the new buildings they're making."

"Why do you say that?"

"Because the area where I was standing looked old and worn compared to where you and Narcissus had been knocked out at. It was pretty dark, but it looked like the newer portions of the current basement were surrounding the old basement."

Mai frowned as she churned the information in her head.

"That would make sense," she said at last. "If there was still something left over from the old building, it could indicate a site-bound spirit. If that's the case…"

"You guys can exorcise it?" Katsu said hopefully.

Mai yawned. "I don't know. But it isn't something that we should overlook. I'm actually surprised you were able to come up with that after being attacked, though. I would've been too frightened to have noticed anything."

"It's just something I do," Katsu said with a shrug. "I have a bad habit of noticing things out of the ordinary." She looked over at the clock hanging on the opposite wall. "Yeesh, it's late. Do you think Narcissus would want to hear about this now?"

"No, I think we should just let him and the others rest. Knowing Naru, he'd skip sleep and go right after whatever leads he can get his hands on." Mai yawned again, laying down and snuggling up against her pillows. "Go ahead and take a shower, Katsu. We can tell Naru about this all tomorrow."

And with that, she fell asleep.

**…**

**…**

**…**

"_I can't believe this! I can't believe _you_! Do you have any idea how hard it is to cover your tracks? This isn't some kind of pastime or stress relief, Dad – it's an illegal activity!"_

"_Don't worry about it, kiddo! It's called protection – I'm protecting my property! Those kids are all trespassers and think they can get away with defiling that lovely old building of mine. And they're learning a valuable lesson."_

"_Dead people don't learn, Dad!"_

"_Nonsense, son! Who said they never learned their lesson? They just should have realized it before they thought about breaking onto my property. I didn't make the mistake – they did. And now they suffer the consequences."_

**…**

**…**

**…**

Mai blinked blearily in the dimly lit room. Her eyes barely adjusted to find Ayako sleeping soundlessly.

'_What a strange dream…'_ she thought before succumbing to a now dreamless slumber.

**…**

**July  
>Day 3<strong>

The morning at long last dawned, finding the crew of Shibuya Psychic Research to be… strained, for lack of a better word.

The site had been trashed once again. A quick inspection of the ground revealed several busted cameras and cords strewn about almost violently. It looked like whatever-it-was that was in there didn't like the idea of being recorded. It was almost lunch by the time they got things cleaned up, thankfully with no incidents. Masako was doing fine according to John (who'd called the hospital after getting up that morning), but it was made clear by Naru that no such thing was to happen again. He'd looked directly at Mai when that. She'd stuck her tongue at him in return before quickly fetching him his demanded cup of tea.

Katsu's theory of the construction company having expanded outward from the original basement proved to be correct. Naru had been a bit surprised when Mai told him of their volunteer's thoughts from before they went to sleep, but had it checked out. The pass codes Katagiri had silently handed over to Lin proved useful, and it wasn't much later that the omnyouji presented the development layout and a copy of the basement level's blueprints, revealing that such was the case.

Katsu herself had disappeared. Ayako bemoaned the fact that the girl was currently sporting a second-degree burn that needed tending to and cut that need looked at and spent much of her time taking out her frustration on poor Takigawa during her ministrations of the injuries he'd received the night they'd first met their almost Houdini-esque interloper. Yasuhara was plainly upset, seeing as he'd deemed the volunteer to be his new information gathering buddy. Finding out that Katsu had left without a trace put the usually cheerful and flippant college student in an uncharacteristically quiet and contemplative mood, which prompted Naru to send him to city hall in search of records on the old building. Yasu had no choice but to moodily comply.

Mai was concerned as well. She didn't know how much sleep Katsu had gotten, and wondered vaguely if the girl had slept at _all_. After last night's misadventure, she wasn't so sure that Katsu ought to have left the construction site without someone with her. And Naru, while not necessarily _worried_ as such, was evidently frustrated as his uncooperative and enigmatic potential information source had absconded with her bag before either he or Lin could catch her for further interrogation.

And all the while, Mai was preoccupied not only with thoughts of the case, but the strangeness of her dreams from the previous evening. The first scene – the one with all people blocking her from someone called "Doc" – had felt oddly different in comparison to "RPG" dream she'd experienced later.

And that girl… that girl she'd seen with Dream Naru… Again, Mai wondered who the ash blonde had been, and what her connection to the case was. She couldn't have been a spirit; a spirit would have to be powerful in order to do something as bizarre as ripping a person from their role in a memory, of that Mai was fairly certain.

And the girl hadn't wanted Mai to inform Naru – real or dream – about her. That request, though desperate, struck a chord somewhere in Mai's subconscious, in particular the request of not telling _Dream Naru_. Why was it so imperative that it be kept a secret? And why was she not allowed to mention girl to Dream Naru specifically?

Her dreams were starting to get even weirder on her. That probably wasn't a good thing…

"Well, yeah, we expanded on the old basement," Sendo admitted, taking his hardhat off and ruffling his hair nervously. He'd arrived only fifteen minutes after Lin had gone over the blueprints, and was currently being interrogated. "A bit odd, sure, but it was surprisingly workable. It wasn't all that hard to do, to tell you the truth. The old building itself was bad, and we had to tear down most of the original foundation. But the flooring was still good, so we just decided to reinforce it, and built up the current foundation around it. The old basement flooring itself is actually at the exact center of the whole thing." He put his finger on the location on the basement level blueprints. "We built up additional support when we installed the wall running between the business section and the residential section. It's really one giant basement used by two buildings; there's an entry a person can use to get to the other side if necessary. Right now, it's just rectangular cutout. We won't be installing any of the security measures until the whole building's actually completed."

"I see." Naru looked over to Lin, who was rapidly typing on his laptop. He then looked back over to the foreman. "Who was in charge of clearing out the building prior to the demolition?"

"Surprisingly enough, the guy who owns this building did it all himself," Sendo replied, frowning a bit at his own response. "During the negotiations, I know Kazehiro offered him our standard clean-out procedure at no extra cost – it's all part of the contract, y'know – but the guy told him that he was personally taking care of it, and that was all there was to it."

"And the name of the owner?"

"Uh… Ikezawa, I think." Sendo laughed nervously. "Sorry, I wasn't there for the negotiations. Kazehiro and Old Hawkeye would know that information; I'm just the guy that stands around barking orders. Hehehe." He looked down at his watch. "Speaking of which, I'd better get back to doing just that. Sorry, but I've got to get moving. I have to fill out a bunch of reports and have Hawkeye look over them and get them turned in before the main office closes this afternoon."

"I understand. Thank you for your time."

The foreman gave a slight bow before walking out of trailer, and nearly colliding into Katsu on his way out. He excused himself with a muttered apology, ushering the girl in before closing it just behind her. Katsu blinked at the closed door before turning to find several sets of eyes looking at her.

"Uh… hi?"

"Katsumi Shinomori, just where have you _been_?" Everyone cringed in varying degrees at the sound of Ayako's shriek. The redheaded priestess stormed right up to where the interloper stood, and grabbed the girl's left arm, dragging her to the couch where John and Takigawa currently sat and shoving her down to sit between the two startled men. "You up and disappear before I can treat your injuries, and didn't even bother to tell anybody!"

"Whoa, calm down!" Katsu protested, eyes wide in shock. "I just woke up before everyone else and decided to get some work done, that's all! You know, information collecting and all that? No need to get all freaked out about it!"

"No need? Ha!" Ayako whipped the bandages off the interloper's right arm, revealing the burns beneath it. Takigawa frowned and John winced visibly. Even Mai cringed. Katsu's arm was bright red and blistered all over. It looked like someone had attempted to peel her skin back layer by layer and had stopped midway. Horrible, in Mai's mind.

"Does it… hurt much?" John asked tentatively, laying a hand gently on her shoulder.

Surprisingly, Katsu shrugged. "I've got relatively high pain tolerance, so it isn't so bad. But I think I'll have it checked out at some point."

"Damn right you will," Ayako said through clenched teeth, unimpressed with the girl's attitude towards the injury.

"So what information did you collect?" Naru inquired, fixing his piercing gaze on Ayako's patient.

"Well, for starters I managed to catch up with Old Man Taka."

An eyebrow rose. "And?"

"Well, it took me a while to get him to talk, but eventually I got him to tell me about the old building." Katsu grimaced as Ayako began to re-wrap her arm. "It was actually kind of disturbing."

"Explain."

"I'm getting there. Sheesh, let's see you try to talk and have yourself being wrapped up like a mummy at the same time." Naru frowned as the others (sans Lin and a frustrated Ayako) snickered. Katsu sighed. "Like I said, I talked to Taka earlier. He was pretty surprised that someone my age wanted to actually talk to him – the local teens tend to harass him more than anything from the sound of it. After chatting a bit, I decided to ask him about the old building here." She paused as Ayako finished off the wrapping.

"And?" Naru prompted, indicating his impatience.

"He clammed up. Started asking why I wanted to know about the old building. It got pretty tense," she said, flexing her newly bandaged arm. "I wasn't really sure how to pursue the topic, so I just started by saying I'd heard the rumors a couple years back and decided to investigate, only to end up a bit disappointed that nothing had happened. When I said _that_, he got all upset."

"Upset?" Mai frowned. Katsu nodded emphatically.

"_Really_ upset. Like someone had broken some unwritten commandment or something. He told me that I was lucky that disappointment was all I'd experienced. Said I should be thanking the gods for my good fortune."

"That must've been awkward," Takigawa remarked.

"Yeah, it was. I mean, I'm used to getting reprimanded and everything, but Taka wasn't angry, he was downright _scared_. I really didn't want the conversation to end right there, though, so I countered him by saying that I'd gotten my curiosity satiated the other night when a few friends and I decided to check out the so-called haunted construction site where the old building used to be."

"What was his reaction to that one?" asked the monk.

"Shock. Anger. I really couldn't choose. The next thing I knew, Taka was in my face and pleading for me not to go anywhere near the site and to tell my friends to do the same. He totally panicked." Katsu sighed and shook her head. "To be honest, I felt really bad, freaking him out like that. He's a nice older widower living out on the streets – he didn't deserve the shock I gave him. I managed to calm him down after a while, and broached the subject of why he didn't want anyone to go near the old building's site. He froze up for a moment; started muttering something under his breath. After a moment, he told me what all he knew." She reached in her bag with her uninjured hand and pulled out a small notepad.

"You're left-handed?" Mai asked, surprised at the amount of writing crammed onto the paper.

"Sort of," Katsu answered vaguely. "Anyway, back to Taka.

"As we already know, the old building that used to be here changed hands frequently, always under new management and never had the same people in it. The _ownership_ of the property, however, only changed about five or six times."

"According to the information you'd acquired previously, it was to be assumed that ownership of the property had changed hands considerably more than that," Naru observed coolly, indicating the aforementioned information he held in his notebook.

"That's what I thought, too. But, hey, everyone makes mistakes."

"Other people make mistakes. That's why I sent Yasuhara to city hall this morning; I wanted him to check out the records of ownership of the old building."

Katsu scowled. "Gee, thanks for the vote of confidence, Narcissus. You should be grateful I even bothered going out early for this."

"The information…" he prompted. Katsu looked ready to throw another witty remark in his direction, but luckily caught sight of Mai mouthing _'Don't do it!'_ before she made a sound.

Instead, the tomboy sighed. "According to Mr. Taka, there's always been a significant amount of stigma attached to the property. He doesn't know much about the old building prior to the 1980s, but he knew that it wasn't always necessarily considered a bad place – just outdated and in need of repairs. Actually, it wasn't until the owner died in 1985 and someone else bought the property that things began to really pick up.

"At first, it was a few silly rumors. Things like the new owner coming out at odd hours and shooing local kids off the property. Once or twice they though they saw him wave a rifle around, but according to the owner's son, he made sure the firearm was never loaded and had the safety on for extra precaution."

'_Rifle?'_ the image of the unseen man beyond the gun barrel flashed in Mai's mind.

"But afterwards, things appeared to settle down. Apparently the new owner was just overly precautious – he didn't exactly trust the sudden prosperity Japan was experiencing at the time and firmly believed that things would go bust before long. He was really adamant about keeping up with current affairs as far the stock market and real estate. As it turns out, he wasn't too far off in his predictions: in 1991, the asset price bubble collapsed and, well, we all know _that_ story."

"Talk about watching the stock market," Takigawa mumbled. Raising his voice only a little, he asked, "So what about some of the organizations that used be here? Did he just keep the building to himself or did he lease it?"

"He actually leased rights to use the building to a few places, I think. A small bookstore for a few years, and later the church group running the soup kitchen. Taka didn't say much else on that. He _did_ say, however, that there were many problems after the kitchens closed.

"The owner had a nervous breakdown, according to rumors." Katsu flipped the page on her notepad. "After that, he just kept the building and refused to sell it. According to Taka, that's when the disappearances began."

Naru's eyes narrowed. "Disappearances?"

Katsu nodded. "Yeah. I was pretty surprised to hear that myself. Nobody I questioned ever said anything about people going missing. When I told Taka that, he said he didn't find it to be all that unusual. Nobody wants to talk about it, especially as the local police department inevitably had to sweep it under the proverbial carpet."

"What? People disappeared and they just went and acted like it never happened?" Mai exploded. "How can they do that? Don't they care about all the families and –"

"Calm down, Mai," Naru interrupted with his voice raised.

"But, Naru –!"

"They didn't give up on them, Mai." The brunette looked over incredulously at the girl on the couch. Katsu shook her head and sighed. "Look, the disappearances here weren't discounted; they were suppressed from the media. In a small residential district like this, people suddenly vanishing into thin air would cause a panic and then things would get out of control. The police have apparently been working on what happened, but without any bodies or remaining witnesses or anything that could give them a clue they had to label it as a cold case. It's unsolved, not given up on."

"Oh…" she looked down, feeling somewhat embarrassed.

Takigawa reached over and ruffled her hair affectionately. "Hey, it's okay, Mai. At least the disappearances haven't reoccurred recently, right?"

"No, they haven't. Later on, the owner died and the rights to property reportedly went to his only son. After that, the building was demolished and then the construction project began."

"And Taka continued to discourage people from going anywhere near the property?" inquired the narcissist.

Katsu nodded. "Yeah, he has been. When I asked why it was so important to him that people stay away even though the building's no longer there, he confessed that he didn't want anyone to suffer like he did." She sighed heavily and sank back into the couch. "Ichiro Taka had a son named Renji. He was really proud of the boy: Renji graduated as one of the valedictorians of his high school class and was three years into his bachelor's degree in the Science and Engineering program at Tokyo Metropolitan University. He and a bunch of his friends came back one summer in 1999 to hang out. At the time, the old man was working in a nearby grocery store as a stocker. He'd had a small apartment at the time; his wife passed away a few years before when their son was in his second year of high school. Renji brought back his long-time girlfriend Chiharu to Nakameguro. Nice girl, he said. But one night they decided to do something for a thrill before having to go back to the university, and sneaked out to the old building."

Mai's eyes widened, memories of the strange dream she'd had in closet the night before replaying vividly in her mind. "D-did they…?"

"They never came back," Katsu said sullenly. "Nobody knows what happened that night. Renji was apparently the only one to have come out at some point, but two days later he was killed in a hit-and-run accident a block away. When Taka found out, he rushed over to the hospital. The autopsy indicated that the car hitting him handed been totally responsible for the boy's death. Taka said Renji's hands were burned horribly, and his skin was like it'd been exposed to the winter. It was like he'd been locked up in a freezer in the time he'd gone missing. The burn marks on his hands were never fully explained."

An uneasy silence befell the trailer. Lin's typing ceased.

"So, after that… Taka kept warning people to stay away from the property." Takigawa frowned, eyes downcast.

Katsu nodded solemnly. "After that, he said he lost his will to live. He quit fighting and gave in. The economy eventually caught up to him. He lost his job and his home, and became permanently homeless as a result. He won't go anywhere near the complex, but he listens for stories. After Renji, several others went missing. Before long, the only people going in there were idiots like me and drunken vagabonds who simply didn't pay attention. And that's all there is to it.

"We talked for a little while longer, and then I left. End of story."

"And that brings us to now."

All went silent at John's statement.

**…**

It was to a disturbingly silent and contemplative base that Yasuhara returned to not even fifteen minutes later, arms laden with papers and copies. Poking in his head and observing the gloomy setting, he frowned.

"You know, I'd ask 'Who died?'" he said, pulling himself into the relieving air conditioning and pulling the door shut behind him. "But given the kind of work we do, I don't that that would be an appropriate thing to say."

Several pairs of eyes narrowed in his direction.

"Cute, Four-Eyes," Katsu said caustically. "Real cute."

"Ah, Katsu!" He bowed lowly, careful not to spill his papers. "I can see you've begun to succumb to my charms! Careful, now; I'm taken."

"Aren't we all," she commented dryly. "And if you're referring to Takigawa…"

"I am his for eternity."

"You just _had _to do that, didn't you?" Monk grumbled under his breath, giving Katsu a dark and exhausted look. Katsu merely grinned back.

"Yup."

"Yasuhara," Naru's voice cut in, forcing the momentary reprieve to wither just as quickly as it had sprung up, "did you find what I asked you for?"

The college student straightened back up, sparing a wink at the monk and the interloper before facing his superior. "Actually, I did. All records pertaining to real estate purchases are public knowledge, so finding out the necessary information wasn't all that difficult. After that, I just did a little extra research. To make things short, I'll just go over the important facts."

He set the papers in front of Naru, splaying them on Otonashi's desk as the narcissist quietly observed. "Since asset price bubble collapse in the 90s, the property we're currently on has changed hands only two times. The owner up until 2001 was Akito Ikezawa, a former stock broker and investment advisor. He hastily retired in the mid-1990s due to a nervous breakdown after accidentally making a bad investment decision on behalf a client and became reclusive as a result."

Takigawa winced. "I can see why he'd done that. Ouch."

"The client never pursued him for the mistake, but the damage had been done. After that, he just disappeared, dealing only with the old building that used to be here." Yasu pulled one of the files and handed it to Naru. "Luckily for him, he was wealthy and had plenty to fall back on. Because of his usually sharp observations of the Nikkei average and the stock market, Ikezawa was able to survive the backlash of the collapse. He took up hunting for sport, apparently as a form of stress release in his retirement."

_The voice, the owner of the gun, turned and grinned at her in the darkness._

"_Oh, I know just what to do with __**you**__, young lady…"_

_She froze as he drew nearer, gun barrel pointed directly at her chest. A rifle. A rifle with a flashlight taped atop of the barrel._

Mai felt herself go cold at the memory of the dream.

"_If I had to take a guess, I'd say he used a lever-action rifle, which are pretty common for sports hunters."_

And that day in the office…

"_Seems like an odd project," Lin commented from behind his computer screen._

"_The gentleman who came to us with the project was odd," Mr. Otanashi admitted with a bit of a laugh. "Mr. Ikezawa, I think it was. Shimizu Ikezawa. Ah, but I digress."_

Mai's eyes widened. _'Ikezawa… Does that mean…?'_

She failed to notice a set of story sapphire eyes and a pair of equally dark but green orbs staring at her intently, their owners noticing her rapidly changing facial expressions as they continued to listen.

"He was really eccentric. He purchased the property during the economic boom in 1980s and leased out the building several times. After the breakdown, though, he threw everyone out and just left the building empty. And then he just died one day. Rumor has it that the stress did him in, but I wasn't able to hack into his medical records to confirm anything.

"Soon after, the bank reclaimed the property until Akito Ikezawa's affairs could be cleared properly – for a man who'd spent most of his life dealing with these kinds of things, he really left things in a mess. In 2007, his son Shimizu inherited the property. He didn't do anything with this place until he got into negotiations with Tomei Construction Company."

"So the man who wanted the old building torn down…" Ayako began.

"Was the son of the guy who had the breakdown," Takigawa concluded. His face darkened in thought. "What are the odds…?"

"That Akito Ikezawa killed a bunch of people and contributed to the disappearances Mr. Taka was talking about?" Katsu finished for him. Her dark eyes narrowed. "Sounds pretty likely to me."

"It's disturbing to think on…" John said quietly.

Mai though back on the dream she'd had the other night after talking to Katsu. A man arguing with his father. She hadn't told the others about the dream, but somehow… she didn't feel she'd need to. The pieces seemed to be coming together…

The sound of notebook, black and sleek, snapping shut fairly made them all jump out of their respective seats. All eyes turned towards their leader, who looked to be rather pleased with himself.

"Lin." The man at the monitors turned upon hearing his name. "Find Katagiri and have him contact Shimizu Ikezawa. I want him here before dark." Dark blue eyes narrowed as a smirk graced his features. "I'd like to wrap this case up quickly."

* * *

><p><em><strong>AN:**__ Yup, you heard the idiot scientist (Gene: Hey, that's my line!) – we're wrapping it up in the next chapter, so stay tuned! _

_Quick review feedback:_

_**melodyann75:**__ You hit the nail on the head! The only problem is that dealing with SPR in particular just makes everything worse for her. XD I'm really glad you think I'm handling the canon characters well – that's something I tend to strive for when it comes to fan fiction._

_**GhostHunt13:**__ "Narcissus" is just a nickname she's using for him. She's not all that comfortable with calling him "Naru", as those close to him do. He makes her really nervous, but she's not opposed to starting an argument with him (although I think she'd like to get really far away from both him and Lin, though. LOL)._

_Special thanks goes out to __**Foxgrl18**__, __**melodyann75**__, and __**GhostHunt13 **__for their reviews and observations, and to everyone adding this story to their lists of favorites and/or alerts, and everyone who is reading this! Until the grand conclusion!_

_(Don't worry – there's another case after this one!) ^_^_


	11. Case File 1 Pt 11 CASE CLOSED

**Case File #1: Skeletons in the Closet  
>Part 11<strong>

* * *

><p>Shimizu Ikezawa was a tall and ordinary kind of man, not at all the type one would automatically entangle within the confused details of a police file cold case, and if he <em>had<em> been included it would have been for background information purposes at best. Or as the tell-tale innocent bystander who'd somehow been roped into the mess and would do anything just to get out of it.

It was the distinctly nervous aura about him, however, that caused Mai to truly pay attention him. He was really unassuming, dressed in a light heather grey suit and polished black shoes – the ensemble looked rather awful on him, to be honest. He looked to be more at home in chinos and a pressed shirt in Mai's mind.

Ikezawa sat rigidly in the chair provided for him, hazel eyes scanning the other occupants – these being the remaining SPR team and Katsu – as he consciously ran long fingers through thick sepia hair. The atmosphere was more like what Mai would have expected from a police precinct interrogation room.

Of course, with Naru conducting interview from behind Otonashi's desk and Lin sitting off to the side with his laptop, it probably wouldn't have felt like anything else.

"You're Shimizu Ikezawa, the owner of the property, correct?" Naru began.

Ikezawa nodded automatically. "It came into my possession after my father died. The banks seized his property and I had to pay back what he owed before ownership passed on to me."

"I see." Naru set his notebook aside, eyes cast off to the corner before settling back on his interviewee. "Mr. Ikezawa –"

"I think I can guess what it is you're going to say," Ikezawa interrupted suddenly, holding up a hand. Naru leaned back in his chair, an eyebrow raised questioningly. Taking a deep breath, the grey-suited man looked at the prodigy nervously. "This is about all the weird things that have been happening here at the construction site. Mr. Otonashi said he'd hired a psychic research team out of Shibuya to assess the situation after the police had turned up unsuccessful."

Naru nodded in assertion. Ikezawa sighed heavily. Hazel eyes looked wearily over at the stacks of notes, photocopies, and printed pages set on Katagiri's desk just off to the side. The tired orbs roamed over to the monitors, taking in each image coming from the cameras.

Shaking his head, Ikezawa passed a hand over his eyes, fingers then running upward through the thick strands of sepia bangs.

"I can't take it anymore," he muttered lowly. The team, however, heard it clearly.

It was an impulse not unlike any she'd had before that brought Mai to the man's side. Ignoring the warning look Naru gave her, she gently placed a hand on one of Ikezawa's sagging shoulders. His head snapped up, looking at her with a face displaying both shock and fear.

The warm and comforting look in her eyes unconsciously permitted him to relax minutely, and he turned back to SPR director.

"We do strange, sometimes damnable things for the ones we care about the most," he said slowly, eyes now fixated on Otonashi's desk in order to avoid Naru's steady gaze. Mai had dropped her hand from the man's shoulder and was now standing next to Katsu, who'd suddenly stiffened at the man's words. "After Mom died when I was still in grade school, it was just Dad and me. He worked all the time, but he somehow managed to spend at least a little time with me, especially when it was important. It wasn't the greatest and it was a pretty strained atmosphere growing up, but I still loved the man and clung to him. He was my only family and I was grateful to have even those rare moments when we'd actually eat together.

"As I grew older, though, I think his attentions became more focused. When I was kid, he didn't really seem to know what to do with me. When I was a teenager, I think he was able to handle me better. Or at least understand me to a greater extent. After I graduated out of high school, we seemed to get even closer. It was nice. But…"

He sighed again. "Dad was still an absolute workaholic. He took his job way too seriously – used to think that something would go horribly wrong if he so much as budged away from all those stock market observations, evaluations, Nikkei index averages, and whatnot. I guess I couldn't blame him, seeing as the economy had suddenly plummeted and his income was what supported us until I was old enough to start working part-time in the local convenience store. But he was totally obsessed with what he did for a living." Ikezawa laughed bitterly. "Actually, Dad obsessed over just about everything. His job, the stock market, his clients' investments, my future when I got older, protection…"

His voice trailed off as his face darkened. "I told him to take a vacation. A week at the very least just to recharge his batteries, you know? He used to tell me that the old workhorse never stops – he has to keep going. He'd been doing his job for so long that I guess he just didn't know how to loosen up. Unfortunately for him, he'd been going overboard at the time and couldn't see it was time to stop and take a breather."

Naru cupped his chin in his hand, looking reminiscent of Rodin's _The Thinker_ before speaking.

"Was this time when he had his breakdown?"

Ikezawa nodded. "I'll never forget it: I was coming back from my high school classes and was going to get something to eat before dashing off to my part-time job. I barely had my sandwich in my mouth when Dad crashed in the house. He was a total mess – I'd never seen him in such a state! He was always wearing freshly ironed shirts, pressed suits, his hair slicked back, shoes shined – total businessman. But that afternoon, he looked like he'd gone off and gotten drunk, wound up getting mugged, and somehow stumbled back home. He kept muttering about screwing up and his life being over. He collapsed right there in the front door.

"I called my boss and told him I had an emergency right after I called the ambulance. The hospital staff said he'd be okay, but Dad wasn't the same after that," Ikezawa said sadly. "He wound up going through counseling and peer therapy for a while before he could really face the world again." He looked up with a brighter look on his face. "But then, Dad was okay again! He started to open up again: he helped me with my homework, took care of the house when I was out, and saw to the bills. We even went out to eat a few times, which was a pretty rare thing for us. And then he took up hunting. He'd kept a rifle in the house since I was a kid, but waited until he was cleared again before renewing his license. When he did, he taught me how to fire a few rounds and even took me out during one time to go hunting for crows*."

Ikezawa's face fell again. "But even then, I don't think Dad was back to being one-hundred percent. A few years before his breakdown, he bought the old building that used to stand here and leased it out to a small bookstore and later a church group that ran a soup kitchen. The lease added up nicely, and we were doing great. But afterwards, he up and kicked everyone out, leaving the building empty again. I never told anyone, but there were a few times when we'd be out tidying up the building to keep it in shape for the city code inspections and he'd wave his rifle at trespassers. He'd work himself into such a state that I'd have to practically tackle him just to get him to stop. The few times antone had asked, I told them that Dad kept the safety on, and he was just trying to keep those people safe. After all, everyone knew what a wreck the old building was. The first floor was the only place the city code enforcement officers would allow operation in. City council was actually thinking of buying it from us and condemning it. If it had been left up to me, I would've agreed and sold it without another thought."

"Your father wasn't as willing," said Naru, more a statement than a question.

"No…" Ikezawa's jaw clenched. "He thought it was his to protect. He just wanted to protect his investment. And I let him…"

"And were aware of his activities in regards to 'protecting' the building?"

The man shook his head. "No. Not immediately. It wasn't until I had a day off of work that I decided to see what he was up to. I kept coming home late and fell asleep over my textbooks – I took high school and my job seriously, just to keep Dad happy – so I never really knew if he was at the old building or not. But I had a nagging suspicion that he was, and decided to act on it."

He inhaled sharply. "There used to be a furnace and an old freezer in the basement. We had it installed for the soup kitchen and homeless shelter that used to be there. I honestly thought that he'd cut off the electricity, but I was wrong. I found him…"

Tension spread throughout the tiny trailer. It was palpable – they could feel it, practically see it. Mai felt as if she'd drown…

"It was a girl with long, dark hair." Ikezawa's voice muttered in the tension, sending a creeping fear through the brunette's internal system. "In the furnace… it was running…"

Katsu took in a sharp, barely audible hissing breath as she looked at Mai in slight panic. Mai herself looked ill.

Against of her better judgment, Katsu gripped Mai's clenching fist with her bad hand. The girl started at the sudden contact, but quickly grasped the offered appendage. Katsu winced slightly, but said nothing as her gaze slipped back to Ikezawa.

"There was a boy in the freezer, not much older than myself, I think… " the troubled man continued, voice dying and reviving intermittently, as if his vocal chords were attempting to function against their own volition. "I let him out and he got away, but she didn't… And there were others… even after that, I know there were…"

Mai's heart pounded fiercely. This man… this man sitting before her and her friends… he'd known! He'd known what his father had done, and yet he –!

"Now we know what happened to Renji Taka and Chiharu," she heard Katsu hiss through clenched teeth. Mai gripped the interloper's hand ever more fiercely, feeling the pressure returned. Neither of them wanted to hear this…

"Why did you not go to the authorities about this?" Naru demanded, his own voice dripping with ice and venom, a combination that struck fear in all inhabitants of the room.

Ikezawa's face screwed up in a heart wrenching look of misery and desperation. "Because he was my _father_; my only family. I loved him and I despised him, Mr. Shibuya. But how could I have betrayed my only blood relation? I hated myself for it, covering his tracks. So many times I wanted to just end it then and there, but there were days when he'd only smile because his building didn't get vandalized. On the nights people broke in, he'd get so upset and he'd run to me when he panicked. And… and I just… damn it, _what was I supposed to do?_" he wailed, and bowed his head, hands clutching as his skull as if in agony.

"I-it took me so long just to get the property back after Dad died. Before he died, he said he wished he'd just sold the damn thing before things got out of control. He felt awful about in the end, once he'd seen things in clearer perspective. But by then…" He sniffed. "When I got it back, I just started gutting the place and throwing things out. After helping Dad evade the police that eventually came, it seemed like it was routine all over again. I was going to sell this place after the construction was finished… I just wanted to get rid of the memories…"

Naru's gaze at the man was just as cold and venomous as his voice. "Do you realize that you've just admitted to being an accessory to murder, and are guilty of not only concealing evidence but _tampering_ with a crime scene?"

"Yes, I'm very aware of it," said Ikezawa, his tone shockingly sincere though slightly dreamlike, as if he'd suddenly gone into shock. The rest of the team froze upon seeing his tearstained face suddenly blank. "But I don't suppose it would do any good to tell you all of the intricate details."

"That is a matter we'll be leaving up to the police," said Naru. "After gathering information on the old building and the property's previous owners and discovering your father's possible involvement to past disappearances, we contacted the Nakameguro police station. They will be arriving soon to handle the situation. My company only deals with the spirits that still linger."

Ikezawa nodded numbly. "Yes… when I'd heard about all the strange rumors going round about the building being haunted, I knew what it was. I think I knew it all along. How could anyone rest after being hunted like an animal? And the incidents at the jobsite… they just wanted to be heard."

Ikezawa stood up, a bit unsteady on his feet. "And now I can finally face what I've been dreading for the past sixteen years. But… before that…"

What he did next surprised them all. Not even Naru could stop his eyes from widening a fraction as Shimizu Ikezawa bowed lowly before him, humble and defeated.

"I just want to thank you and your company, Mr. Shibuya, for helping me end this nightmare. This may seem strange, stupid, or even ridiculous to you, but to me… what just transpired…" he looked up and smiled sadly. "It was a relief."

He walked out of the base, the opened door revealing a pair of uniformed officers standing just outside. Sighing, Ikezawa turned and bowed again, shutting the door behind him.

Mai heard and felt the released breath of those around her.

"Do you think he'll be alright?" she heard herself ask.

"I think he will be now," Katsu said softly. Mai looked at the girl, now realizing that at some point they'd stopped holding hands. The interloper's arms were folded, her head hanging down so that her bangs covered her eyes. "After all those years of beating himself up, I think facing the music will seem like Nirvana for him." Dark green eyes looked up sadly, startling Naru's brunette assistant with their intensity. "And that's a tragedy unto itself."

**…**

That night they began the exorcism, their primary target the fox-fire in the basement. After much debate, it was agreed that the portion left over from the old building was the focal point of the activity, thus making it priority. Takigawa, dressed in his ceremonial robes, performed the ritual; John in his priest attire and standing just behind him for additional support.

The others remained in the back and watched, Mai standing just off to the side next to Naru. Out of the corner of her eye, she'd noticed that Katsu had separated herself from the group entirely, opting to lean back against a nearby wall as she watched.

It was difficult trying to split her attention between the interloper and the exorcism. The entire time Monk was chanting his mantra and the room was filling with a spectrum of colored lights, Katsu's eyes were riveted to the scene, oblivious to the brunette watching her.

It was like watching someone entranced, Mai thought as the room glowed in a faint gold before dying back down into the dim lighting. Though Katsu may have looked composed with her back against the wall and her arms folded in a lazy sort of posture, there was a definite looked of contemplation and perhaps even conflicted emotions playing in the dark green irises. And all the while, the interloper was silently chanting words that Mai couldn't make out.

"I think we're done," Takigawa announced in a low tone, snapping Mai out of her reverie. A quiet order from Naru to sweep the building as a precaution was given and the tiny crowd dispersed.

The next morning, the exorcism was confirmed to have been a success.

**…**

**Day 4**

"And that's that, ladies and gentlemen," Takigawa announced as Lin closed the doors to the back of the van. The Chinese man quickly went back to the jobsite, where Naru was still engaged in conversation with Otonashi, Katagiri, and Sendo. "Case closed."

"And now we can all go home." Ayako yawned loudly. "I can't wait to get back in my own bed. I'm exhausted."

"Yeah, I guess all that procrastination can really wear you out." Monk's flippant remark was met with a loud harrumph from the self-styled shrine maiden.

"Well, I guess this is goodbye," Mai commented, smiling a bit sadly in Katsu's direction.

The other girl gave the brunette a crooked grin as she held up one finger, waggling it almost sagely as she said, "_There are as many people as there are stars, as many encounters as there are stars, and as many partings_."

The others merely looked at her.

"Wow, that's deep," Monk commented.

'_This whole case was deep,'_ Mai thought bitterly, her thoughts briefly meandering to Ikezawa before shaking them off.

Yasu's eyes narrowed behind his glasses. "You lifted that from _Nadesico: Prince of Darkness_!" he accused.

"It was appropriate," Katsu defended. Silently, Mai rather agreed with her.

"Still, you must really like stars a lot," John commented as he made his way back to the jobsite to see if they'd overlooked any cables. "You have that phrase on your hardhat and all."

"I can't help it if I'm a stargazer." Katsu shrugged nonchalantly, closing her eyes. The dark green orbs shot open again immediately upon feeling a strong hand pat her on the head.

"Well, you just take of yourself and keep out of trouble, Katsu," said Monk, leaning over and grinning. "Try not to beat up any more people with that right hook of yours."

"I'll give you no guarantees on that one."

The small group burst out laughing, Katsu pretending to look innocent but failing with the smirk that played on her lips. The case was over. Shimizu Ikezawa was in the hands of Nakameguro's local police, the spirits had been cleansed, the equipment was sitting safely in the first SPR van, and now it was time to depart. They were relieved it was over, but it was almost sad having to bid farewell to someone they'd only met and yet had experienced a great deal with.

"Seriously, though," Monk said after the laughter died. "_Keep out of trouble_. No more sneaking onto haunted construction sites in the dead of night and getting yourself caught by hawkeyed CEO secretaries and weathered old foremen."

"Oh, you don't have to worry about _that_," Katsu assured him, hands held up in mock protest. "This was the only time I've ever snooped around a construction site, and I honestly don't want to repeat the experience. Haunted or otherwise, constructions sites just aren't my cup of tea."

"Good. Keep it that way." Takigawa pulled her into a bone-crunching hug, seemingly oblivious to the wild protesting coming from the girl and the angry glare he was receiving from a certain redheaded shrine maiden. "And I meant what I said about getting you and Mai tickets to my band's next big concert." He released her with one arm and fished around in his pocket before pulling out a thin piece of paper and shoving it in the dark-haired girl's direction.

"Huh?" she blinked at the item.

"It's my cell phone number," he explained, stuffing it in one of the side compartments of her bag. "Give me a call some time and we'll make arrangements, okay?"

"Uh… yeah, sure." Katsu looked a bit bewildered.

Ayako sighed and smacked the monk upside the head, a little less intense than normal but producing the appropriate indignant reaction before admonishing in a hissing voice, "Cut it out, you're only going to make her arm even more painful than it already is! Perverted old man – do you have a Lolita complex?"

"Ow… sorry…" Takigawa bowed apologetically to Katsu while rubbing his now very tender skull. He then glared at his assaulter. "And who are you calling old, you mountebank shrine maiden?"

"No, it's okay!" Katsu assured him. "Really, guys, you –"

"_Mountebank?_" Ayako practically screeched. "Look who's talking, you charlatan!"

"Hey!"

Mai whipped out one of the SPR business cards she kept with her and quickly jotted something down on the back. Grinning, she went up behind Katsu and tapped her gently on the shoulder.

Thankful to have been torn from what was beginning to look like another tango of tempers between the monk and the miko, Katsu turned around found herself looking at a small white rectangle, a smiling Mai just beyond it.

"This is my home number," the brunette said cheerfully. "My cell number is just under it. Whenever you get a chance, give me a call. Maybe we can get together sometime _other_ than just Monk's concert."

Katsu blinked before offering a small smile. "Sure thing."

"And add _this_ to that collection!" Yasuhara butted in, waving a scrap of notebook paper in front of the interloper's face and startling her. "Call me any time! Day or night, or even when I'm in the shower – I'll answer!"

Katsu snatched the paper and glared at him. "I'll take it, but don't be expecting any phone calls out of me, Four-Eyes."

"My Lady, you wound me," Yasu lamented, hanging his head on her shoulder in mock hurt.

Katsu awkwardly pat his head gently with her uninjured hand, slyly sneaking Mai a wink before saying,

"Now, now, Four-Eyes. I thought you'd cast your gaze in the direction of that fine Master Takigawa?"

Yasu's head shot up, glasses glinting in the sunlight. "Ah, yes, I still have _him_…"

"Oh, no you _don't_, Yasu!" Takigawa yelled, having heard the conversation. "Katsu, don't go encouraging him!"

"She needn't encourage the flames of true love," Yasu assured him, swaggering exaggeratedly in the monk's direction. "What will be, will be!"

"Yeah, and _you_ will be a splatter on the side of the road if you keep this up!"

"How could you threaten to murder me after everything we've been through?"

"Well, Four-Eyes, at least you know that if you die, you'll have a priest nearby to give you last rights and see to your remains properly," Katsu stated, jerking her head in John's direction. The poor Australian, having only just re-entered the conversation, could only look at them all in confusion.

The utterly mystified look on John's face sent them all into a gale of laughter, confounding the priest even further.

"Well, now that everything's been settled, I believe it's time for us to leave," the superior tone laced with irritation interrupted, settling the rowdy crowd down to a degree.

Naru looked at them all, somewhat pleased in his own right though his face would never show it. He allowed his gaze to settle on his young brunette assistant, who was currently showing something on the back of one of SPR's business cards to their now ex-volunteer Katsu Shinomori, Mai smiling broadly and talking in a low voice so as not to attract too much attention.

'_And failing miserably as usual,'_ he added to himself, mysteriously amused by her as always. Yet another reason he opted to keep her around, he duly noted.

"Miss Shinomori," he said, earning a sudden scowl from the aforementioned person.

"I thought I told you I hated being addressed as 'Miss'," she snapped, voice not lacking in venom.

Her scowl dropped into a look of bafflement when he held a sheaf of papers in her direction.

"Your notes," he said succinctly in response to her confusion. "You may have them back now."

He watched as the interloper looked at them, the gears in her mind obviously processing something, though as to what he hadn't the slightest.

It irritated him. If there was one thing Kazuya "Naru" Shibuya did not like, it was the rare occasion of finding himself unable to read a person by their actions. The only thing he could conclude was that she was hiding something and he could decipher nothing further than that.

"Keep 'em," Katsu said after a moment's thought. She looked up at Naru and shrugged nonchalantly for the second time that morning. "_I_ don't need them, but youguys might have to reference something later on for all I know. They're all yours."

Naru slowly retracted the offered package, eyes scrutinizing the girl carefully. It came across as odd that she'd part with something of hers so easily.

"Hey, thanks, Katsu!" Mai said gratefully, already knowing that her boss would never offer any form of gratitude if his life depended on it.

"Don't mention it." She shrugged. "Like I said, I don't need them."

There was another round of farewells and well-wishing from the SPR bunch, sans the Dark Duo of Naru and Lin. Katsu was coerced into assuring them that she would attempt to contact both Takigawa and Mai in at least a week, and had outright refused to promise the same to Yasu, who managed to look both injured and amused in one indefinable facial expression.

Soon after, the group was off and heading home.

Katsu waited until the two vehicles disappeared around the distant corner before stretching out her arms and turning on her heel, sighing heavily before contemplating the direction in which she'd travel.

'_They mentioned being from Shibuya, so I really ought to be heading in __**that**__ direction…'_

"Of course, I don't have any _real_ reason to hurry anywhere in _particular_," she said aloud, forcing her mouth into a grin that was both thoughtful and pleased at once. "And that fake-o shrine maiden _did_ say I need to have my injuries checked out…"

The grin faded quicker than it had come, and a small frown played over her lips for a moment before she grimaced as she looked thoughtfully at the wrappings covering her hand and forearm. That would need to be looked at for sure. She might have been able to fool the others, but her arm hurt considerably, and her hand was throbbing. And she still felt dizzy.

'_It hadn't been much blood, but still…'_ A low and familiar pain in her lower abdominal region pulsated, shooting up her back and seeping into her thighs, making her grimace involuntarily. Her breath hitched. _'I really hate the way my internal systems function.'_

She sighed as the pain lulled into a dull but bearable throb, and walked along the length of the fence surrounding the front part of the construction site. A set of lyrics slipped from her lips, almost as easily as breathing, before her eyes drifted to the watch that dangled pitifully on its charred band from her left hand. She'd had to transfer it because of the bandages. It felt odd being on her other wrist, but it couldn't be helped.

'_I really worried him, didn't I?'_ She frowned sadly at the thought and sighed, the pain flaring up again. _'This and running into that Kazuya Shibuya guy so suddenly… I didn't think I could handle it…' _

"_We do strange, sometimes damnable things for the ones we care about the most."_ Katsu exhaled and smiled a little upon remembering Ikezawa's statement from before.

"Yeah," she whispered. "I've known that for a while now. And I still keep doing them…

"Okay!" She straightened up and plastered a grin on her face. "Time to get moving and get checked out."

With a hitch to her rucksack and a thousand thoughts buzzing in her mind, Katsumi Shinomori walked along the streets of Nakameguro, nobody noticing as the teen strode briskly by. She headed in the direction of Shibuya, following the trail of the SPR group and humming a sprightly tune that she matched her gait to, snatches of song lyrics flitting about intermittently.

**…**

Obitsu Katagiri gathered his papers from his desk and carefully placed them in his briefcase late in the afternoon. So much work to do, now that the incidents were over…

A quick glance upward revealed his boss muttering tiredly at the various notes left over from before the psychic research group's investigation. Katagiri felt inwardly relieved – maybe now Kazehiro would be able to take it easier.

He picked up one of the manila files from off to the side, puzzled slightly by its tilted appearance. Upon removing the file, one graying eyebrow rose. In the small file box laid a silver lighter, a small dent in the bottom right corner. Underneath it was a folded piece of scrap paper.

Katagiri picked up the two items, lips pursed together as he unfolded the note and read it.

_Dear Mr. Katagiri,_

_I came across this on the jobsite six days ago. I'd seen you use it in passing, and figured you must've dropped at some point. I wanted to return it to you sooner, but things got kinda screwy._

_Don't worry: it's still full of lighter fluid. I checked before I put it on your desk. Sorry for making you think I stole it. _

_The "Mutt"_

"Well, Obitsu, I think that's everything." Otonashi looked up, startled to find his secretary smiling warmly down at his father's old lighter and a small scrap of paper.

Otonashi shook his head, smiling to himself at the sight. _'And here I thought he'd never relax with how frantic he'd been when he realized he lost it. I'm glad.'_

* * *

><p><strong>*~ Case File #1: Skeletons in the Closet~*<br>CASE CLOSED**

* * *

><p><em>*I read somewhere that in Japan crows are seen as evil birds, particularly by farmers as crows cause damage to crops and rice fields. Apparently the government offers a bounty on crow hunting (not big – ¥500 per crow, I think). Please correct me if my information is wrong.<em>

* * *

><p><em><strong>AN:**__ And thus concludes my first ever Ghost Hunt case! Yay! I was so happy to see the reviews for this SPR excursion, and reading everyone's theories in regards to Katsu is a lot fun. Don't worry – little by little, her connections to some characters and back story will be revealed in due time! In the meantime, keep the theories coming! Some of you might be closer than you think!_

_Special thanks goes out to the following people for their wonderful reviews and input for this Case File:_

_**Torublossom**__, __**Tbonechick2011**__, __**TheAmateurArtist**__, __**Aoi Kitsukawa**__, __**Foxgrl18**__, __**rika-carol**__, __**GhostHunt13**__, __**Cuz-im-just-that-awsum**__, __**scizzors**__, __**akjupiter**__, __**YummyCake**__, __**seiyuurabu**__, __**lil whit**__, __**HellImRenee**__, __**Moons-Chan**__, __**melodyann75**__, __**kikifan21**__, __**sakura2112**__, and __**Malindorie**__. _

_And to everyone who added __**Inception**__ to their Favorites/Alerts lists – thank you so much! I'm so glad everyone liked this case, and I hope you like the next one as well._

_Thank you, everyone! Until the next chapter – peace out! ^_^_


	12. Non Case File 1

_**Author's Note:**__ Greetings, beloved readers, and welcome to the first of the __**Inception**__ Non-Case Files! The Non-Case Files take place in-between SPR cases, acting either as fillers or as stand-alone instances that move the story along._

_**Summary:**__ Sitting in traffic in Shibuya at night, Monk discovers that Ayako forgot her purse in his car after he took her home from the case in Meguro. Curiosity gets the better of him and he decides to look through it. What does he find?_

_Let me know what you think! Please remember: all questions, comments, constructive criticism, and/or suggestions are welcome and appreciated. Thank you so much for reading – enjoy!_

* * *

><p><strong>Non-Case File #1<br>Ayako's Purse**

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><p><em>Lead me not into temptation; I can find the way myself.<em>  
>– Rita Mae Brown<p>

Houshou Takigawa sank back in the driver's seat of his car and let out a low moan as he waited in the Shibuya night traffic for the light to change. Case closed on the Tomei Construction Company site, onto his next gig. Namely, his band's upcoming concert. It wasn't until tomorrow night, and he was damned sure going to sleep the whole rest of the evening and into tomorrow afternoon. Eat, drink, maybe watch some television in-between bathroom breaks, but above all _sleep_! He knew the riffs and chords by heart – a little rehearsal before the concert was all he really needed for preparation. Sleep was priority.

By Buddha, he wished he had his painkillers, though.

A dark scowl appeared on the bassist's face. There was a _reason_ he no longer had his bottle of acetaminophen – Ayako Matsuzaki. That fastidious, irritating, phony shrine maiden had taken it "out of concern for his wellbeing", and the poor bottle had been presumably shut away from the ever-revolving world in the confines of her purse.

He shuddered at the thought of the object. It was demonic – he was almost positive Ayako had a demon sealed up in it somewhere. Why else would its aim be so perfect, its connection so painful? And even if it had no demonic inclinations, the accessory was still evil in its own right, and its owner by no means an angel.

And it was only a damn purse!

"Finally!" he exclaimed upon seeing the light turn green and gratefully followed the procession of cars streaming along the congested city street. The sooner he got home, the sooner he could crash. After all that mess at the Yoshimi Inn and the construction site, he needed every second of rest he could snatch.

He allowed his mind to trail back to the Tomei case, grinning a bit upon thinking of their intruding volunteer, Katsu. Despite their rather violent introduction, Takigawa actually liked the girl. She had a lot of spirit, and she certainly didn't seem to appreciate being talked down to (and she had a killer right hook to top it off – his cheek was still pretty sore). The fact that she'd openly insulted Naru was amusing in its own right.

'_I sure hope she's keeping herself out of trouble… speaking of girls staying out of trouble, I should probably call Mai when I get home.'_

He chuckled to himself over the rock music playing on the radio. It felt like he was _always_ watching out for Mai. After learning she was an orphan, he'd openly accepted the position of playing the surrogate brother or even father. If Mai would allow it, Takigawa would have absolutely no problem with adopting the girl; he was fairly certain he made enough to be able to support the both of them. Between concerts and exorcisms, he actually did pretty well for himself.

Alas! Mai was particularly stubborn, as most girls and women in general tended to be. Just look at Ayako…

Damn it! There he went, thinking about that good-for-nothing priestess again!

Double damn – another red light. Just what was it with the traffic tonight?

Groaning loudly, Takigawa flung out an exasperated hand into the passenger's seat, thoroughly prepared to throw in the towel and consign himself to pulling over and sleeping in his car. But with the way his back was hurting, that didn't seem like to great of an idea at the moment…

Upon his hand landing on something distinctly foreign, the monk froze.

It wasn't his bag; that was in the backseat. It certainly wasn't anything of Mai's, of that he was certain. He was positive it was nothing of John's. The only person who'd sat in the front seat was…

'_Oh, _hell_ no!'_

It was satiny; it had a zipper. He could feel the long strap in the darkness beneath his investigating fingers. There was only one thing it could be. The object of his torment, the subject of his ever-living nightmare.

_Ayako's purse!_

He snatched his hand up abruptly as if he'd been burned, thanking the gods as the lights changed to green and traffic began to move. His eyes darted unwittingly to the darkened curve of the passenger seat, the silhouette of the demonic object practically taunting him. Of all things Ayako Matsuzaki had to lose in his car after returning from a case, why had it been her _purse_?

Were anyone to have warned him of this delicate predicament prior, he would have deemed it absurd and laughable. It was a private joke of his that Ayako and whatever handbag she happened to be using had a kind of unbreakable, preternatural bond that was best if not tested. For her to lose her purse was a concluded impossibility!

And here it was: his theory refuted.

He drove in silence, his mind too far gone in turmoil to register _The Fourth Avenue Café_ playing clearly on the radio. The music of L'Arc-en-Ciel was lost to Houshou Takigawa as he churned this latest scenario in his head.

Ayako's purse. Her _purse_! Separation was indeed possible! Astounding!

'_Lethal,'_ said the nagging voice in the back of his mind. At this, Takigawa shuddered. The miko was bad enough when her beloved handbag was near and preferably on her person; what kind of she-demon would Ayako Matsuzaki manifest as upon noticing her preferred implement of torture was absent from her side? A Godzilla-esque miko popped up in his mind, the hilarity of Ayako sporting dorsal fins and a radioactive death ray in addition to her priestess attire instantaneously quashed by the realization that in reality the woman herself wasn't all that far from the imagined _daikaiju_ portrayal.*

Dashing aside his humorous thoughts, Takigawa settled his mind on the most damning question of all: _What was he going to do?_

Fish out the woman's phone number and give her a call so he could return the blasted accessory was his first thought. The sooner the purse was out of his vicinity, the less he would suffer. He wasn't all _that_ far away from Shibuya, and he doubted Ayako would have gotten far herself. And if all else failed, he could at least have Mai leave her a message.

Leaving the purse with Mai was his second option. It was a safe one, certainly: Ayako would never get angry at Mai to the point of violence (_none_ of them could harm that girl, now that the monk thought about it), and there would be no harm done. Mai would be going to the office tomorrow anyway – Ayako could just pick it up at SPR.

Which led him to his third option: dropping the purse off at SPR tomorrow morning and making a hasty exit before the priestess could grab him. With his upcoming gig, his absence would be excusable.

He sighed heavily, _The Fourth Avenue Café _coming to its close and the radio announcer droning the hourly weather report. It really didn't matter _how_ he got it back to her so long as he didn't have it with him any longer than necessary.

Unfortunately, after all the paperwork and sorting through the details that came with solving an investigation and the impromptu dinner idea Yasu had purposefully implanted into the group, it had grown late and Naru had effectively thrown them out for the night before heading presumably in the direction of wherever he lived, Lin right behind him.

Another begrudging look flitted in the direction of the purse. There was no helping it: he'd just have to hang on to it until tomorrow.

**…**

It stared at him, seemingly innocent but at the same time taunting.

An eyebrow twitched. He was going to leave it in the car, but the little niggling voice inside his mind had kindly reminded him that there was always a chance someone could break into his car. A laughing notion, as he personally believed there wasn't anything worth looting, but he didn't know what Ayako had in her purse. The last thing he needed on his conscience was the theft of her citizen's card and whatever other identification she had. Credit cards… cash… Who knew what she kept in there?

Ah, but that was the damning thing, wasn't it? _He didn't know what was in there_. That thought slammed into him after tentatively placing the feared accessory on his coffee table and grabbing a beer.

Hence his current predicament.

Takigawa stared at the purse, leaning forward a bit anxiously in his recliner. A woman's purse was a mystery to mankind, unsolved and foreboding. Not even Naru for all his arrogance and smug sense of self-superiority could possibly have unlocked the secrets of a woman's purse, though _that_ was likely from lack of interest than from actual failure. The idea of Naru poking through Mai's purse when she wasn't looking didn't suit. If anything, he'd send Lin to do the job.

'_Lin poking around in Mai's purse… now _there's_ a funny idea…'_

But Mai's purse wouldn't be all that mysterious. The girl was too carefree and approachable. And she was a teenager. At most, she'd be toting "feminine products", her wallet, train pass, citizen's card, and some money. Maybe lip gloss. _Girly._

And Mai didn't use her purse as a potentially lethal weapon. Despite the amusement he'd have if the brunette were indeed to smack her boss with her small accessory, the monk knew all too well that there would be that lack of unshakable precision and harsh pain upon contact. Ayako held the record on that account.

And now he had the weapon. He had his source of torment. He could at long last investigate what lay within the zippered compartments…

'_Curiosity killed the cat, you know,'_ Caution chided, clearly not amused.

The vindictive portion of his mind snorted. _'I'm a whole lot bigger than a cat.'_

'_And that purse is considerably smaller,'_ Caution countered, _'and it's a _whole_ lot more destructive.'_

'_Only in the owner's hands.'_ Vindication effectively silenced Caution.

"Hehehe. Arguing with myself." Takigawa shook his head and chuckled as he pulled the offensive item towards him. "It's not a moral dilemma," he rationalized; "I'm just satiating my curiosity."

And it was damned good curiosity, he asserted. After all the crap that woman gave him, he had _plenty_ of justification for his snooping. Just the mere thought of potential blackmail material was enough to convince him to go through with it.

The additional thought that his acetaminophen might lie somewhere in the bowels of the unknown was even further incentive.

_Ziiip!_ The purse was opened.

He froze. Where was the proverbial puff of demonic smoke, the cries of the captured damned? Bear in mind, dear reader, while he did not truly believe such things to have occurred by the mere opening of a purse, Houshou Takigawa could not help but feel a bit jilted.

And nervous all over again! The very hand that had opened the purse tentatively entered the dark abyss, hesitating before descending quickly, grasping the very first thing his fingers brushed against and yanking back quickly to look at his captured prey.

To his surprised, it was a cell phone.

'_Guess it wouldn't have helped if I'd decided to call her.'_ He grinned a bit. That was pretty painless. Now, what else did she have in there?

The next object he pulled was the miko's wallet. Curiosity still dragging him by the nose, Takigawa decided to sneak a peek at Ayako's citizen's card. To his surprise, he not only found that but a couple of credit cards, automobile and health insurance cards, and various other cards that he found to be of little interest. He regarded her driver's license with particular interest, chuckling to find that not even the great Ayako Matsuzaki had evaded the inevitable crummy photograph taken at the public safety commissions' office. He _was_ a bit surprised, however, to find that she was only two years younger than he was. All those jokes on her age didn't seem quite so amusing anymore…

'_But there's more than just that to harp on.'_

That thought made him smile as he continued to pluck random items from her purse. For such a tiny object, the purse certainly held quite a lot! In a short space of time, Takigawa pulled out three tubes of lipstick, a small double-sided compact mirror, a pocket calendar, and various other assorted oddities.

A frustrated frown tugged at the corners of his mouth. This was getting him nowhere fast.

Without any further ado, he tipped the purse over and unceremoniously dumped its contents onto the coffee table.

He stared. He glared. His face fell, and he stared some more. It was inconceivable. How that woman could have stuffed so much… _stuff_ in this little purse defied explanation! But at least it now explained why he hurt so much whenever the blasted accessory came in contact with him.

He randomly scooped up a tube of mascara before letting it drop to join with its compatriots. Cosmetics. He might have known. Ayako really _was_ a vain woman, wasn't she?

He allowed his eyes to further examine the scattered contents, a scowl now affixed to his handsome but tired visage. Out of all the crap she stashed in there, why hadn't she stuffed his bottle of acetaminophen in there as well?

'_Shouldn't there be something else you ought to be worrying about…?'_

Sudden Realization just had to makes its guest appearance, the monk thought bitterly as a cold wave washed over his body. It was with nervous eyes that he looked to-and-fro between the purse and the items splayed over his coffee table. It was like taking a television set apart and trying to piece it back together, only much, _much_ worse.

_How was he going to get all of that stuff back into Ayako's purse?_

**…**

It was with that air of a child caught in the act of reaching into the cookie jar that Houshou Takigawa arrived at the office of Shibuya Psychic Research Center the following morning, eyes hesitantly scanning the office over dark shades. Ascertaining that his cause of fear in becoming the quarry was evidently not in the immediate vicinity, he sighed in relief and slinked into the office, closing the door quietly behind him.

He silently cursed his band members and their new manager for changing the schedule so suddenly and without warning. His much anticipated morning of drooling over his pillows and lounging comfortably in his bed after a night of cramming cosmetics and various other items into a small red purse had been wretchedly thwarted by miscommunication and an unappreciated phone call.

Ignorance was only momentary bliss, a fact Takigawa was only too keenly aware of as he stretched in his performance costume, the rolled-up sleeves of his button-down top rising even further past his elbows as he yawned.

"Oh! Hi, Monk!" Mai's cheerful voice greeted him as she stepped out from the kitchenette. She held a small tray of two steaming teacups, presumably for the two other inhabitants of the silent office space. "Did you need to see Naru about something?"

"Uh… no," he laughed nervously. "Actually, I was wondering if I could just leave this here. I have a rehearsal to get to, so I can't return it anytime soon." He sheepishly held up the crimson purse by its strap.

Mai's eyes widened. "So _that_ where Ayako's purse went to! She called me last night freaking out about it!" Takigawa panicked inwardly. "I know! Just leave it on my desk. I'll call Ayako and let her know you brought it in after I give Lin and Naru their tea."

Relief flooded through his system. "Thanks, Mai!" He smiled broadly. The brunette smiled in return and continued on her way, pausing to knock on her young boss's door before entering his office.

Takigawa couldn't believe his luck. This was perfect! All he had to do was set the purse on Mai's desk and he was free. He could escape to his rehearsal and live to tell the tale. Thank the gods!

Fate was said to be a fickle woman, and it was quite possibly because Fate is in fact _female_ that Takigawa's sudden stroke of luck was so disappointingly short-lived; no sooner had he rejoiced and begun to lower the abominable accessory onto Mai's desk the door opened, revealing the redhead he'd endeavored to avoid at all costs.

The monk froze, the purse swinging slightly, mere inches from the hard wood. Ayako stood stock-still, eyes fixated on the oddly amusing image of a man wearing a dark plum shirt with the last few buttons curiously missing and exposing his lower midriff, and black faux leather low-rise pants, his hands grasping a red satin purse by its strap.

So engrossed were they in their equally stunned minds that both failed to register an irritated sigh, followed by the closing of Lin's office door.

Ayako was the first to recover. Shutting the door behind her, she strutted up to the frozen monk and immediately began her tirade.

"And just _what_ are _you_ doing with _my purse_?" she demanded, eyes glaring up at him.

Takigawa faltered.

"Oh, Ayako." The shrine maiden looked over to find Mai emerging from Naru's office. Grinning slightly, the brunette passed by the two adult on her way to place the tray back in the kitchenette. "Monk was just returning your purse. I guess you forgot it in his car after all."

"I see…" Mahogany eyes followed Naru's teenage assistant as she disappeared before rounding back on the still-stunned bassist holding onto the purse. The look on his face was absolutely devastated; he was gawking after Mai as if he couldn't believe she'd just so casually leave him out here.

Smirking, Ayako walked up to her part-time coworker and promptly snatched her no longer missing accessory from his frozen hands. The movement provoked a startled reaction from the monk, causing him to step back quickly.

Ayako then scowled. "I spent my entire night worrying over where this was! You could have at least had the decency to call me and let me know I'd left it in your car!"

Takigawa straightened himself indignantly. "Well, I _would've_ called except it was late and you didn't have your cell phone," he defended, tilting his white cowboy hat forward to cover part of his face. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have rehearsals." And with that bravado, he swept past her and headed for the door.

He'd almost escaped. Almost.

"I can understand not calling because it was late," the priestess's eerily calm and chillingly rational voice said. "However, I _am_ a bit surprised that you knew I didn't have my cell phone."

The bassist froze, turning hesitantly in the doorway. He met a set of dark and angry eyes.

"You looked in my purse, didn't you?"

Houshou Takigawa knew right then and there by the venomous and accusatory quality in her voice that he was going to die. And as a condemned man, he did the one thing he could think of at the moment.

He cursed and ran.

**…**

Naru closed his book and sighed as a cacophony of shrieks and pleading met his ears. Yet again, Takigawa and Matsuzaki were fighting, Mai attempting to act as a buffer and failing miserably. Peace never lasted at SPR headquarters for very long these days. It was practically nonexistent.

How vexing.

* * *

><p><strong>*~AYAKO'S PURSE: THE OMAKE! PART 1~*<strong>

A frustrated frown tugged at the corners of his mouth. This was getting him nowhere fast.

Without any further ado, he tipped the purse over and unceremoniously dumped its contents onto the coffee table.

He stared. He glared. His face fell, and he stared some more. It was inconceivable. How that woman could have stuffed so much… _stuff_ in this little purse defied explanation! But at least it now explained why he hurt so much whenever the blasted accessory came in contact with him.

He randomly picked up one thick block of clay before letting it drop to join with its compatriots, the resulting with a teeth-jarring crash to his poor, abused table. Of all things cliché and improbable… _bricks_! He might have known. Ayako really _was_ a violent woman, wasn't she?

* * *

><p><strong>*~AYAKO'S PURSE: THE OMAKE! PART 2~*<strong>

The monk froze, the purse swinging slightly, mere inches from the hard wood. Ayako stood stock-still, eyes fixated on the oddly amusing image of a man wearing a dark plum shirt that exposed his lower midriff, black faux leather pants, and a short white jacket over the ensemble, his hands grasping a bright red satin purse by its strap.

So engrossed were they in their equally stunned minds that both failed to register the small flash of light coming from the back, followed by the closing of Lin's office door.

Chuckling to himself, Lin settled back in his seat as his nimble fingers quickly keyed in the email address he would be sending the picture to. Now he had something to provide for Madoka's Japanese Facebook account!

* * *

><p><strong>*<strong>_**Daikaiju**__ – the Japanese word used for describing the genre of films Godzilla and other monster fall in; __**daikaiju eiga**__, literally "giant monster movie"._

* * *

><p><em><strong>AN:**__ I had fun writing this part. I'd gotten the idea when I was planning out the story and the cases, and somehow found myself wondering what would happen if Monk ever got his hands on Ayako's purse. And I couldn't resist the omakes. XD_

_Special thanks goes out to __**Anonymous**__, __**Foxgrl18**__, __**lil whit**__, and __**Aoi Kitsukawa**__ for their reviews in the finale of Case File #1 (and thank you, Aoi Kitsukawa, for the information in regards to crows – I really appreciate it! ^_^). Until the next chapter (and the next case)! _


	13. Case File 2 Pt 1

_**Author's Note:**__ Greetings and salutations! Welcome to Case File #2 of __**Ghost Hunt: Inception**__! In this arc, SPR find themselves investigating a wine bar in Shinjuku Golden Gai. Quieter than a construction site, but certainly no less dangerous, what is it that haunts this shanty-style location? The truth, they say, is in the wine… A take on a tale from Edgar Allan Poe, but with a Ghost Hunt twist!_

_Please remember: all questions, comments, constructive criticism, and/or suggestions are welcome and appreciated. Thank you so much for reading – enjoy!_

_**Disclaimer: **__I own nothing from __**Ghost Hunt**__. I just like to write. ^_^_

_And now, on with __**Inception**__!_

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><p><strong>Case File #2: In Vino Veritas<br>Part 1**

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><p><em>Round, round with the glass, boys, as fast as you can,<em>  
><em>Since he who don't drink cannot be a true man.<em>  
><em>For if truth is in wine, then 'tis all but a whim<em>  
><em>To think a man's true when the wine's not in him.<em>  
><em>Drink, drink, then, and hold it a maxim divine<br>That there's virtue in truth, and there's truth in good wine!_

– Benjamin Cook, _In Vino Veritas_

**August  
>Day 1<br>6:27 PM**

"Holy –!" Takigawa had to stop himself from finishing his exclamation upon taking his first look at the interior their stop. "You mean we're exorcising _this place_?"

Mai stood next to him, mouth agape. "You _have_ to be kidding me. How am I going to help set up anything without _breaking_ something?"

"I'm more concerned about just trying to _investigate_ in a place like this," the monk said, equally slack jawed. "Forget exorcisms – just take a look at the inside of this place! Just one of those bottles back there is probably enough to clean out my whole month's earnings!"

"If you're finished gawking, you can start helping with unloading the equipment," Naru said pointedly as he passed by the pair with a monitor cradled in his arms.

"Oh! Wait, Naru! We don't even know where base is! Wait up!" Mai called out, hastily grabbing a box of cables from the van and hurrying after her employer.

Barely two weeks had passed since their return from the construction site case in Meguro when their current clients had come in: a couple in their late twenties who'd admitted to being slightly embarrassed at having to have gone to paranormal investigators. Akira and Tsumiko Shinoda had only recently acquired Akira's family's business following the death of his uncle. They'd heard rumors about the wine bar being haunted, but had never actually believed it.

Until now.

"Despite its dingy appearance on the outside, this place is really something else," Yasu remarked as he took in the scenery over the monitor he was carrying. Indeed, _Kiss of Wine_ was a very classy place: the interior was of the same dim lighting of any place of its caliber; dark mahogany stools lined the glossy bar, and the multicolored glass bottles reflected on the shiny wooden floors as they erect on the glass shelves that ran along the walls. Chardonnays, burgundies, sherries, and even traditional sake sat pristine and mesmerizingly behind the counter where the bartender was currently taking inventory and going over predicted orders for the evening.

Mai was floored. It was enough that she was underage and in a drinking establishment (and a rather selective one, at that!), but for her to have been invited under the pretext of investigative purposes and find herself gawking at the sheer _brilliance_ of the place…!

This place just _couldn't_ be haunted!

'_Get real, Mai,' _her mind chided. _'Since when have appearances held any relevance to a haunting?'_

She scowled at her own thoughts. Places that looked haunted sometimes weren't, like the old school building that had finally collapsed due to the land subsiding. And Ayami's house certainly hadn't looked like it would have been haunted, if a person were to have taken that creepy doll Minnie out of the equation…

"Pick up the slack, Mai!" Yasu commanded, nudging her with his monitor from behind. She looked over her shoulder to stick her tongue at him, receiving a smug grin in return.

Mai rolled her eyes and continued to follow Takigawa as he trailed behind Naru. Because _Kiss of Wine_ was high-profile and known to have attracted a few well-known names in Japan, Naru had decided to play it safe by allowing Yasu to stand in as Kazuya Shibuya; the _real_ Kazuya Shibuya had taken the pseudonym he'd created back when they'd accepted the case at Miyama Manor: Narumi Kazuo, an assistant. Mr. and Mrs. Shinoda had already been informed of the fact, and agreed to keep their silence on the matter. So long as SPR was able to help and keep their business's issues from the tabloids, they didn't mind the additional secrecy.

'_Well, at least we can still call him 'Naru','_ Mai kept reminding herself. She couldn't help but wonder if her little nickname for her employer had somehow instigated the use of that particular alias.

Base turned out to be a small back room on the second floor, which housed several private rooms that were not to be reserved for the duration of the investigation. Even here, _Kiss of Wine_ proved to impress. The room came complete with a small bar, a micro refrigerator, and a connected bathroom. The two private rooms across the hall had been their designated sleeping quarters, complete well-kept _tatami_ mats and futons with clean linens.

"Just put the cables over there," Naru instructed her, gesturing towards where Lin was going over the inventory as they brought in the equipment. Mai complied without question.

Takigawa set the monitor to where Lin had gestured. He groaned loudly, knowing there were several others he had yet to bring up.

"Darn that Ayako!" he spat. "She's _always_ getting out of doing the manual labor!"

"If you're going to complain, you're welcome to leave," said Naru. He gazed at the monk emotionlessly before returning to his clipboard. Takigawa merely sighed in defeat and headed back to the door, Mai just behind him and Yasu trailing after the both of them.

Mai supposed she really couldn't blame Monk for his current frustrations towards the shrine maiden: the morning after they'd finished up the Tomei case, the poor bassist had found himself on the receiving end of Ayako's wrath yet again after he'd brought her missing purse to SPR's office. The accusation had been that he'd maliciously gone through her purse in hopes of finding blackmail material; Takigawa pleaded only halfway guilty, claiming that he'd mostly been hoping to find his bottle of acetaminophen.

The end result: a sore Houshou Takigawa, a smug Ayako Matsuzaki, an exasperated Mai, and a more-than-irritated Naru. And absolutely no acetaminophen until Monk finally bought another bottle, which he'd hidden somewhere so that Ayako couldn't snatch it away. Mai suspected that was the reason the miko was currently suspended from hitching rides from the bassist until further notice; the painkillers were likely to have been stashed in the glove compartment.

_C'est la vie._ At least when you happened to be working with SPR.

It was just when Mai snapped out of her reverie and slid in-between Monk and Yasu to grab one of the cameras that she heard the shout. It wasn't a very nice shout, nor one she would have liked directed at her, but it was the angry tone and the familiarity of the voice doing the yelling that caught her attention. Hands just under the camera, Mai turned around just in time to see a lanky older teen dart out from an alleyway with an equally tall friend, the friend holding a set of chopsticks and the teen holding what looked like a small, steaming hard plastic bowl of ramen.

"I said give that _back_, damn it!" A smaller figure crashed out from the alleyway, stumbling after slamming into a nearby garbage can and nearly knocking it over. The rucksack hanging from one shoulder strap thumped violently against the back of her thigh.

The teen with the stolen ramen laughed. "Yeah, sure! I'll give it back! I'd rather have a different flavor, anyway!" he spun around and threw the bowl, laughing hysterically. The bowl and its contents hit the smaller person square in the chest, causing her to violently recoil and let out a loud hiss.

The two boys stopped in their tracks and turned, snorting at the sight of the ramen-covered girl who'd been chasing them.

"Here, you'll need these!" the friend tossed the chopsticks in the girl's direction before letting out a hoot and tugging on his buddy's sleeve. The two boys ran off in the opposite direction, leaving their victim behind.

Said victim wasn't the type to just stand there and sulk, however. Not in the least.

"_Bakayaro!_"

**…**

She regarded herself as a fairly do-well kind of girl; even if she wasn't among the most highly respectable of citizens, she at least made a point not to cause _too_ much trouble. A few minor infractions here-and-there were what she considered a healthy pastime. However, when someone took the initiative to outright humiliate her in public, all of that tended to fly right out the window.

She often prided herself in maintaining pretty good self restraint, but when it came being covered in hot ramen and receiving a great many stares from the people who'd been watching, all she wanted to do was pummel the ones responsible for her embarrassment into oblivion. She would have, too, if it hadn't been for the fact that she'd been strictly ordered not to "overdo it" by three _very_ persuasive people, each of whom threatened to place under his own form of house arrest, one going so far as to ensure that he'd figure out a way to chain her to his bedside if she pulled anymore "dangerous stunts", as he'd so eloquently put it. And after a very long and serious discussion with that particular individual, she'd reluctantly consented. It was only right, seeing how worried he'd been.

Bearing this in mind, she clenched her fists harshly, nails cutting viciously into the palms of her hands. All she had to do was just…

She smacked herself mentally. There was no point in victimizing trash like that, even if he _did_ deserve it. So she did the only thing she could think to do at that moment.

"_Bakayaro!_"

The two boys laughed even harder as the disappeared into yet another alleyway.

Now she was madder than ever. Why did people feel the need to stare so blatantly at a person when said person was at their most vulnerable? She wanted to disappear on the spot.

'_I didn't even _want_ to come to Shinjuku!'_ she lamented, looking down miserably at her broth-stained clothes. _'Favorable strands in this direction – my ass!'_

"I can't believe those jerks! Of all the rude and inconsiderate things a person can do, _throwing hot food on someone_ _is_ _unforgiveable_!" Dark green eyes looked up to find a shockingly petite brunette being restrained by a long-haired man. The man himself looked to be angry as well, despite his insistence that going after the two wouldn't solve anything. The bespectacled young man just to the side was nodding sagely, though he, too, was looking daggers after the boys.

'_Well, I'll be damned.'_ "Mai?"

The petite brunette snapped out of her tirade at the sound of her name. Brown eyes darted in the direction of the noodle-baptized victim. Those same eyes widened in recognition.

"Katsu!"

Takigawa and Yasu looked in the interloper's direction, both shocked to find that it was indeed the girl they'd left back in Meguro.

Katsumi Shinomori grinned widely despite her skin burning from the hot noodles and broth having seeped through her clothing. "Hi, guys!"

**…**

It took the trio a moment to fully register everything that had just happened. It felt a bit surreal, two weeks after the fact. The first night of the Tomei Construction Company case, they'd encountered a dark-haired teen named Katsumi Shinomori, a girl who was decidedly reckless and sported the appropriately boyish nickname of Katsu. Despite the misunderstanding and slight distrust derived of their initial encounter (the girl having clocked Takigawa with a piece of GRP piping upon realizing that she wasn't exploring the site alone), Katsu had been more-or-less accepted as a one-time volunteer during the investigation. By the end of the case, she'd become a bit of a friend and was asked to keep in contact.

But that, as already stated, had happened well over two weeks ago. In the time since, Katsu hadn't contacted either Mai or Takigawa as she'd assured them she would. Yasu had also heard nothing, though Mai found herself unsurprised by that revelation – Katsu never told the college student that she would call him, after all. But it had been disappointing to have been out of communication. Mai had genuinely been hoping to hear from the girl.

And now, here she was, covered in dark broth and stringy noodles and looking no worse for wear. She was still thin and still had dark circles under her eyes, though now the circles seemed to be a bit lighter. Her right arm was still bandaged, which indicated that the burns she'd received at the construction site were still healing.

And she was grinning like the Cheshire Cat. A Cheshire Cat covered in its meal, that is.

Takigawa was the first to recover.

"Still getting into trouble, I see," he teased, releasing Mai and striding over to where the interloper stood. He stared down at her with his arms folded and his mouth in a frown. The act of disapproval didn't last long, however, and the frown was soon replaced with a quirky grin. He chuckled. "Well, at least this isn't like the construction site."

Katsu giggled. "Yeah. This time _you're_ not the one I was getting ready to clobber!" She laughed even louder as the monk groaned at the memory.

"Mortification seems to like following you around," Yasu said cordially, walking with Mai up to the two. The equipment was suddenly forgotten.

"Yeah," Katsu sighed, looking down ruefully at her ruined attire. "But usually _I'm_ the one doing the mortifying. Talk about a twisted turn of fate. And I was really hungry, too."

Her stomach growled as if to compound the fact. Katsu scowled at the noise, much to the laughter of the other three.

"Well, even if you _are_ a mess, it's really nice to see you again, Katsu." Mai giggled and began to pluck off the strands of squiggly noodles, tossing them aside onto the pavement.

"Ugh. They just _had_ to get my bag, too, didn't they?" Katsu looked longingly at a thick piece of _chāshū_ before flinging it aside. She then gave the brunette a helpless smile.

"It's really nice to see you guys again, too," she admitted, frowning a bit as Yasu pulled a strand of _nori_ from her shoulder. "But what the heck are you guys doing here in Shinjuku?"

Takigawa quirked an eyebrow as he, too, assisted in the clean-up effort. "Actually, we were just about to ask you the same question."

"What are the three of you doing?" a well-known and cold voice demanded. The group looked over to find Naru looking at them exasperatedly, Lin standing just behind him. The narcissist's lips were pursed together in irritation. "I don't think it would bode well for us if the 'Head' of SPR was found chattering away when there's work to be done."

Yasu paled at the meaning behind his boss's words. He forgot about the _chāshū_ dangling from between his index finger and thumb.

"Is that Narcissus?" Katsu asked, poking her head from behind Takigawa's frame. She eyed him curiously. "Sure is. What the heck are you talking about? You don't like you're 'chattering away' to me."

Naru's eyes widened fractionally for a split second before returning back to their normal state.

"Miss Shinomori," he acknowledged. He raised an eyebrow at her soiled appearance.

Katsu laughed nervously. Mai felt the girl tense up considerably under the narcissist's gaze. What Mai didn't realize was that Naru wasn't the only one boring holes into Katsu – Lin was eyeing her with equal intensity. "Let's just say I have a penchant for making weird entrances and leave it at that, shall we?"

Unresponsive, Naru walked up to the foursome, stopping just in front of Katsu. The interloper froze completely upon straightening up. The black-clad youth casually reached out to her shoulder, causing the girl to flinch.

Naru looked distastefully at the noodle he'd pulled from her shirt before dropping it to the ground. "What happened?"

"Not much," Katsu responded loftily.

Mai looked at her incredulously. "_'Not much'_? How can you call two boys stealing your food and throwing it at you in the middle of the street '_not much_'?"

"Not to mention the added insult of throwing your chopsticks in your face while jeering at you," Yasu added with a frown. Naru scowled.

"Is this true?" he demanded, eyes narrowed in the interloper's direction.

Katsu sighed loudly. "Yeah, but what do you expect from a couple of degenerates? Those two were just looking for someone to pick on and somehow decided that a girl opening a prepackaged ramen was the best target. They probably did me a favor, seeing as I got it out of a vending machine; it wasn't even a flavor I really liked. I can always get another one later."

Her stomach growled in protest, earning itself yet another scowl from the dark-haired girl.

"I think your stomach's saying otherwise," Naru remarked caustically, ignoring the guffaws coming from the other three. Lin remained taciturn in the background.

"_Dōshite watashi ga?_" Katsu lamented comically. She quirked a half-hearted, crooked grin in the narcissist's direction. "My body never agrees with anything I say. I just try to ignore it for the most part." She adjusted the shoulder strap of her rucksack and sighed. "I guess I'd better find a place to get changed." She looked down at the mess, privately wishing she could at least curse the two for the scene they'd caused. She could _feel_ that there were people still staring! And her skin felt really strange after being hit with the scalding broth…

"You can get cleaned up inside." Her head snapped up at the narcissist's words, only to find his back turned to her as he picked up yet another monitor from the van. "The rest of you, continue unloading the van and setting up base. Shinomori, when you're finished I want you to help out. Once we have the monitors set up, I want you and Mai to run temperature checks in the building."

Katsu felt her jaw drop; she was pretty sure she could hear at least three others hanging agape just behind her. "Wait, I get doused with cheap ramen and you want me to run _temperature checks_? Just what are your grounds for bossing me around when I haven't even done anything to screw things up yet?"

"I received a phone call from Miss Matsuzaki shortly before I came out here," Naru explained coolly, handing the monitor to Lin. "It appears as though she won't be able to make it here to assist us, which means that we're one person short. And since you happen to be here and did a commendable job of volunteering in our previous case, it's only logical to use you as a substitute for the time being."

"Case? You mean… this place?" she looked up at the sign overhead, frowning up at the kanji scrawled. Dark green eyes flitted back to the black-clad youth.

"You can change in the bathroom across from base. Mai will show you where it is." He strode inside with another monitor.

Katsu nearly jumped as she felt a set of hands clamp down on her shoulders.

"Welcome back to the team, Katsu," Monk congratulated her with a chuckle.

"Yeah, thanks… I think…" She laughed nervously, following Mai as the brunette grabbed a case of microphones and led her through the main part of the bar and up a narrow stairwell leading to the second floor.

"This is base here," Mai said, indicating the room on their right with a jerk of her head, "and the bathroom's just across." She nodded to the sliding door on the left.

"Thanks, Mai," Katsu said. She then looked a bit sheepish. "Uh, before you go in there, could I borrow your cell phone? I need to make a call."

"Here, take mine," Takigawa offered, stopping just behind the two to reach into his pocket. He quickly tossed a sleek black cell phone in the interloper's direction. "Just don't run the minutes off of it, okay?"

"Sure thing, thanks." And with that, she disappeared into the bathroom.

**…**

The bolt to the door slid into place, effectively locking anyone from the outside. She slipped her ruined shirt over her head and laid it on the counter. Sighing heavily, she looked into the mirror and frowned. _'Gods, I really am a mess.'_

She picked up Takigawa's cell phone and quickly dialed the number. It wasn't often this particular individual would pick up for an unknown number, but considering his uncanny knowledge of things that pertained to her, she had a feeling he wasn't going to ignore it.

Sure enough, he picked up on the third ring.

"_Ishimaru."_

"Next time one of your 'favorable threads' involves me running into Shibuya Psychic Research, I suggest you give me a warning," Katsu said coldly. "I don't enjoy being tricked like that."

There was a low chuckle from the other end. _"Glad to hear from you, too, kiddo. How's it going?"_

"I got scalding hot ramen thrown at me, and now I've been roped into a ghost hunting investigation," Katsu deadpanned. "How do you think I feel?"

The chuckle turned into full-blown laughter. _"Probably ready to kill me. I wouldn't recommend acting on it, though; murder's illegal, and you might just have a use for me later on."_

"Hardy, har, har. Very funny." She cradled the phone between her ear and her shoulder as she began to undo the wrappings on her right arm. The broth from the ramen had succeeded in ruining the dressings as well, rendering them utterly useless. It was a good thing she'd wrapped her arm thickly, she couldn't help but think. "I just thought I'd call and let you know what those stupid threads of yours got me into this time. You really should have warned me that I'd be seeing that Shibuya guy again – you know how much I hate surprises! He nearly gave me a heart attack that last time!"

"_I already explained to you why I wasn't able to give you a warning the last time,"_ the man on the other end of the line said sternly. _"It isn't my fault that you disappeared for two weeks on end, not even bothering to check in with either me or Kirishima. We're both still pretty pissed off about that, and I don't think the other one would be happy about it, either. Knowing him, he probably already figured it out."_

"Yeah, actually he did." Katsu grimaced as she threw the bandages into the waste basket. "And he's already read me the riot act, I assure you."

"_Thank the gods there's a least _one_ person who can get through that thick skull of yours,"_ Ishimaru snorted. _"And as for you running into SPR again, if that's what your thread led you to, you're just going have to accept it. I just show you the paths; I can't tell you the destination –"_

"– because you can't see it all that clearly." Katsu sighed. "Yeah, I know. I just thought it would be a good idea to let you know what's going so that you didn't think I took off again."

"_And I appreciate it,"_ Ishimaru returned. _"You just take care of yourself and watch out for spirits. Just what kind of place are you all investigating, anyway?"_

"We're in some fancy bar in the Golden Gai. I really couldn't tell you anything more than that. How come?"

There was a brief silence.

"Hello?"

"_Do me a favor and try not to drink anything those people give you. I don't care if it's tap water – you're better off finding a vending machine."_

"I beg your pardon? This is a bar – I'm underage! Like hell I'm going to drink anything! Do you really think I'm that stupid?"

"_Nope. Good girl. And what're those magic words of yours?"_

Katsu's brow furrowed at the question. "_Go, go, beauty, round, round, nothing's gonna stop_."

"_That's my girl! Keep it up, and stay out of trouble. I'll see you when you get back in Shibuya. Later, kiddo."_

Katsu looked at the phone in bewilderment as the dial tone came on, signaling the end of the call. She flipped it closed with a sigh and set it back on the sink before looking at herself again in the mirror.

Red splotches stood out on pale and previously unexposed skin, revealing where the scalding broth and steaming noodles had landed. There was a definite stain now on her ill-fitted white cotton brassiere, but there wasn't much she could do aside from blotting it out the best way she could. The angry red markings trailed from her chest down along her belly past where her pants sat at her waist, stained just like her shirt.

Compared the damage done to her arm, it wasn't all that serious. It just looked bad. A little cool water and it would be fine.

She stood there staring at her reflection a little while longer, allowing her thoughts to wander a bit in regards to what all had happened since she'd last seen SPR. She didn't get very far in her thoughts, for when she diverted her attention back to reality she was startled to find another, shockingly familiar person standing next to her reflection in the mirror.

Katsu froze. The boy in the mirror looked confused for a moment, dark sapphire eyes locking onto her midnight green ones before sliding to the rest of her halfway undressed form. One fine, black eyebrow rose quizzically as he took in the vision before him.

Upon seeing the red splotches on her skin, the boy's handsomely pale face twisted into a scowl, and he looked up to her as if demanding to know what happened before confusion overthrew his features again and he vanished completely, as if carried away by a wind.

Katsu's heart pounded fiercely in her chest; her mouth was dry and she suddenly felt lightheaded. She had to have been hallucinating – she hadn't eaten since earlier that morning, so it was a reasonable assumption. What just happened couldn't possibly have been real. It wasn't possible!

What would _he_ have been doing in a mirror?

* * *

><p><em><strong><em><strong>Terms, Phrases, and Definitions:<strong>_**_

_Bakayaro – basically a rather vulgar insult, which can be taken to meaning idiot, moron, or (in this case) a**hole_

_Chāshū – barbequed meat (usually pork, which is what it is in this story), which is seasoned with soy sauce and honey. It's the Japanese version Chinese Char siu, and is commonly found in ramen._

_Nori – edible seaweed (also used for wrapping onigiri! ^_^)_

_Dōshite watashi ga? – Why me?_

* * *

><p><em><strong>AN:**__ And thus begins Case File #2! Special thanks goes out to lil whit and Foxgrl18 for their reviews on Non-Case File 1 – I'm glad you liked it! Poor Monk never gets a break, does he? LOL_

_Until the next chapter, then! XD_


	14. Case File 2 Pt 2

**Case File #2: In Vino Veritas  
>Part 2<strong>

* * *

><p><strong>A couple hours later…<strong>

ワインのくちづけ

"_Kiss of Wine_, huh? Nice name," Katsu commented, nodding her head approvingly at the insignia on the napkin she'd lifted from the bar. "And it matches the décor, too – _very_ classy. Nice, relaxing atmosphere; definitely good for the customers." She looked over to Mai curiously. "So what's the low-down on this place? Floating glasses or disappearing corkscrews?"

"Well…"

"This is a family business that was previously owned by Akira Shinoda's uncle, Keisuke Shinoda," Naru answered, effectively cutting off his younger assistant. "According to the couple currently in ownership, they'd heard of past disturbances but chose not to believe the accounts."

Yasu raised an eyebrow. "Didn't pay attention to the disturbances in general, or didn't pay attention to the whole supernatural aspect?"

"They'd have to be pretty crappy entrepreneurs to turn a blind eye on anything involving their business," Katsu remarked under her breath.

"The latter; Akira Shinoda and his wife were skeptical about the purported stories of the establishment being haunted and went about as if everything could be solved by normal methods. They commissioned the city to send in an inspector who instructed them on the necessary upgrades and areas to be remodeled. The Shinodas spent quite a bit of money to remodel the establishment."

Katsu turned to him with a look of dark amusement. "Let me guess: it didn't help."

Naru nodded. "Not long after ownership of the bar went to Akira, they began experiencing the disturbances that had been reported by employees and a few customers. Since then, _Kiss of Wine_ has undergone a significant downturn in clientele and earnings."

Yasu flipped through one of the files he'd filled with information prior to their arrival. "When your business starts losing profits in an economy like this, it's a real pain trying to get back up to snuff. _Kiss of Wine_'s been an extremely profitable establishment for well over fifteen years. I'm actually pretty surprised by that, to be honest. Usually small-time businesses get bought out."

"Well, this _is_ Golden Gai," Monk pointed out as he entered base, Lin just behind him. He looked over to Naru. "We finished setting up the cameras." He then returned his gaze to the other three. "This place is pretty high-end and expensive; buyouts like what you'd expect in places like Roppongi or Shibuya don't happen all that often over here."

"That's why Golden Gai has been able to maintain its status for so long as an icon for blending a traditional atmosphere and modern luxuries," Naru observed, looking over at the monitors.

"That and the whole Yakuza thing back in the eighties." Several pairs of eyes turned in the interloper's direction.

"Yakuza?" Mai blinked.

Katsu stared at her in mild surprise. "What? You mean you didn't know about how the Yakuza burned buildings in Tokyo and Golden Gai was one of the lucky survivors?"

"What? Seriously?"

"Jeez, even _I've_ heard of it." Yasu shook his head in disbelief. "You really are hopeless, Mai."

Mai glared at the college student.

"Care to enlighten us?" Naru prompted, looking between his volunteer and his stand-in expectantly.

Yasu gave a jolt. "Oh, right. Back in the 1980s, the Yakuza set fire to several buildings in Tokyo. Their purpose behind the arsons was to make a profit by selling the land off to developers. Golden Gai was spared only because its supporters would take turns standing guard at night to protect the area."

"The area was originally known for prostitution prior to around 1958 – when the practice was considered illegal – and since then it's been developed into the drinking area you see now," Monk continued, stealing the seat to the right of Mai. "Considering it's always been an attractive spot for nighttime activities, I suppose it was only natural that there were those who would want to protect."

"Considering the clientele, I wouldn't have been surprised," Katsu said, a bit sourly. "You've got to be rolling in money just to get in here, and a lot of these joints won't let you in unless you're introduced by one of their existing patrons. Even when the rest of the world is in a pinch, there are still a few lucky bastards who –" _Bonk!_ "Hey! Monk!"

"_Language_, young lady," he reprimanded, pulling back his hand.

"Geez, _sorry_," she said sarcastically, rolling her eyes. "Anyway, that's the reason why Golden Gai's the way it is. End of history lesson."

"Do you think that what happened in the eighties might be connected to what the bar's been experiencing?" Mai asked.

"It wouldn't surprise me any," said Yasu. "And if it isn't a spirit from the eighties, maybe during the time when prostitution was illegal; there may have been dozens of unsolved crimes that we aren't aware of."

"Given the details of the case, I'm not willing to commit myself to saying that _Kiss of Wine_ is haunted," Naru interjected, sitting down in the chair next to Lin's over by the monitors.

"So what exactly _are_ we looking for here, Naru?" Monk inquired. "You were pretty vague on the details."

"Knocking noises were the biggest complaint, followed by flickering lights, clattering glassware, the doors sliding open and shut and often times shuddering when the bar is empty. There have also been reports of strange shadows and whispers coming from the stairwell leading up these rooms."

"That sound like noisy neighbors and people pulling pranks," Katsu remarked, unimpressed. "Everything except the clattering glassware, but that could be attributed to a rowdy upstairs party."

"True, but we've already checked into these theories," said Naru. "While we were bringing in the equipment, I had Lin watch to see if our movement caused any significant movement."

"From what I could see, the glassware did indeed shake a bit," Lin supplied from his spot in front of the monitors. "For reference, I had the bartender and the owners watch as well. According to them, it wasn't the same."

"And we can eliminate faulty electrical wiring and plumbing," Yasu added, going through his pages. "They fixed those first."

"So you really think this place is haunted?" Katsu looked to SPR's leader skeptically. "I don't buy it."

"At the moment I'm not certain, although I'm inclined to think that we may be dealing with a poltergeist," he said. "However, it doesn't hurt to check things out."

"Well, if checking things out is what you want us to do, I guess there's no time like the present." The interloper rose from her seat and stretched. "I'm gonna go 'check out' that bar before its gets all crowded. Maybe that bartender's got something to say."

"I'll go with you," Yasu volunteered, eagerly jumping up.

"Don't go trying to get any alcohol, you two," Monk joked.

"Aw, but that's part of the fun! OW!" The college student rubbed his upper arm where Katsu had hit him. "Wow, Takigawa wasn't kidding about your punches!"

"Before anyone goes exploring, I'd like to make one thing clear." They all looked over to Naru expectantly. "Because of the Shinodas' request to maintain the utmost secrecy, it's been agreed that we investigate without anyone knowing. So we don't attract any attention to ourselves, only Lin and Takigawa will be allowed at the bar during regular business hours. Unless it's an absolute necessity, the rest of us will be limited to investigating the upstairs, the service stairwell, the kitchen, and the outside perimeter. Just as an added precaution, we should avoid the main stairwell, which leads directly into the bar itself."

"But we can go down to the bar when it isn't opened, right?" Katsu asked.

"So long as you return before anyone sees you, it should be fine."

"Excellent." The interloper looked over her shoulder. "Hey, Mai, wanna join us? I don't particularly like the idea of being alone with Four-Eyes here."

"Hey!"

"Yeah, sure thing." Mai jumped up and grabbed her pen and notepad, happy to be doing something other than just sitting around.

When the shoji door slid shut and their footsteps faded away, Monk looked suspiciously over to the black-clad youth across the room.

"All right, Naru, why'd you trick Katsu into working for you this time? And don't tell me it's just because Ayako told you she couldn't make it."

The narcissist looked over to him dispassionately. "All I said was that Miss Matsuzaki wouldn't be able to make it to assist us. I never said anything that wasn't true."

"No, you just failed to mention the fact that Ayako won't be here _until tomorrow_. And don't tell me I'm wrong, because I talked to her over an hour ago." The bassist frowned heavily. "This is a really small establishment, Naru. What do we need Katsu here for, anyway? It's not like she has anything significant to contribute like she did back at the construction site."

The teen turned around to view one of the monitors. It was a moment before he spoke again.

"It wouldn't have been appropriate to leave an acquaintance outside in ruined clothing after being humiliated. And besides, it's always a good idea to have an extra hand." He turned around and pulled the door open. "I'm going to go check on the camera in the main stairwell. The image looks to be distorted."

"All right," Lin responded, not even looking up.

Takigawa continued to frown as he watched his raven-haired boss exit from base. Naru wasn't the kind of person given to being spontaneously benevolent; in general, he tended to do things in a manner that ultimately gained his business a certain amount of benefit. Getting the job done efficiently was the boy's lot in life – being a Good Samaritan simply didn't seem to fit into his repertoire.

Knowing this, Takigawa couldn't help but wonder what kind of benefit there was in bringing _Katsu_ of all people to the team. She just wasn't the kind of person you dragged willingly into a paranormal investigation group.

Of course, that was the same kind of thinking they'd all had before they'd discovered Mai's latent psychic abilities, now that he thought about it…

Unlike Mai, however, Katsu didn't come across as the self-sacrificing, friendly kind of girl. She was way too damn defensive. As to why she acted that way, Takigawa hadn't the faintest.

**…**

"So what exactly are you doing in Shinjuku, Katsu?" Mai asked as they made their way down the stairs leading into the bar. "Meguro's about half an hour away by train, isn't it?"

Katsu looked over her shoulder in mild amusement. "Who the heck said I live in Meguro?"

Yasu and Mai halted.

"Wait a minute," Yasu said, now very much confused. "If you don't live in Meguro, then what were you doing at the construction site?"

"Hanging around," replied the interloper. "That's actually what I was doing here in Shinjuku before that ramen incident. A friend of mine thought it would be a good idea for me to check out the scenery around here, so I took him up on the suggestion. I wound up in Golden Gai on accident."

"So where _do_ you live?"

"Nowhere in particular. Wow, this place is really something else when it gets dark outside!"

Mai and Yasu stopped just behind the dark-haired girl and couldn't help but agree. What they'd seen of the bar in the dying daylight hours paled in comparison to the pristine, glowing visage before them.

"_This_ is why Golden Gai's such a popular attraction." The three looked over to the bar, finding a man in his late twenties looking over the room almost lovingly. Dark hazel eyes shifted onto the trio, brightening considerably. "You're from that ghost chasers group, right? I'm kinda surprised at how young you guys are; I was expecting balding old Buddhist exorcists and a shriveled up Shinto priestess!"

In-between the snorts of laughter, Mai found herself hoping Monk hadn't heard the man's comment, and was overly grateful that Ayako wasn't around to have even caught wind of it.

"Actually, sir, we're ghost _hunters_," Yasu corrected, quickly switching into his professional mode. "I don't believe we've been introduced. I'm Kazuya Shibuya, the President of Shibuya Psychic Research. These two young ladies with me are Mai Taniyama, one of my assistants, and Katsumi Shinomori, our volunteer."

"Toshio Akamatsu," the bartender replied cordially, and gestured for them to sit. Yasu and Mai accepted; Katsu chose to meander to the other side of the room. "Anything I can get for you?"

Yasu pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "Actually, Mr. Akamatsu, I was wondering if you wouldn't mind telling us about some of your experiences at the bar here."

Akamatsu placed aside the glass he'd been cleaning and leaned against the counter thoughtfully.

"Well, there isn't much that you guys haven't heard about already. I was with that one tall guy earlier when you all were setting up your equipment, and he was asking me if the glasses were shaking like what we'd been seeing." He indicated the rack hanging above, supporting what must have been over a hundred gleaming wine glasses. "Sure it shook, but not anywhere near what it was like before."

"What exactly is it normally like?"

"All glasses start clattering together and we've even had a few shake loose and shatter – one of them almost hit a customer. And it isn't just the glasses shaking – it's the whole damn rack. There were a couple of times I thought that thing was going to drop on my head!"

"Wow, that's got to be pretty nerve-wracking," Mai commented.

Akamatsu laughed. "Yeah, but I wouldn't give up this job for anything, even if it does turn out this old place is haunted."

"You really like it here that much?" Yasu inquired, somewhat surprised. "Most people would leave if they thought they were being haunted."

"Yeah, but it's different for me. I've been working here for a few months now, but _Kiss of Wine_'s kinda like my second home. Akira and I have been friends a long time, so when he offered me the job, I took it just like that." He snapped his fingers.

"I really love working in this place," he continued, gazing over at the currently empty seats wistfully. "It's a great way to get to know people, and the tips really help a guy out. I don't think I would've done all that well for myself if I hadn't decided to work here; having a little extra cash to save up really makes me feel good about myself. Not only can I afford to pay rent, utilities, and groceries, I can also spend a little on my folks in Koishikawa."

Katsu turned around, suddenly interested in the conversation. "I think I've been through there… that's one of the neighborhoods in Bunkyō, where the Kōrakuen Garden is, right?"

"Bingo." Akamatsu smiled broadly. "You're a really smart kid."

The interloper shrugged and turned back to the painting she was looking at. "I just know my Tokyo geography pretty well."

Yasuhara continued his pleasant, bantering style of interrogation as Mai jotted down notes. Seemingly forgotten, Katsu wandered about the bar pretending to look for clues or points of interest.

In reality, she was thinking back to that incident in the bathroom. The encounter she'd had with the boy in the mirror had been enough to give her a jolt, and not a very pleasant one at that. Despite all the things she'd encountered in her life even before she'd become entangled with that charmer, Katsu found herself bothered.

The look on his face had said it all; their encountering reflections hadn't been done on purpose. There was no hidden joke playing in his eyes, no triumphant smirk relayed across that piece of glass. He'd been just as confused as she'd been and even more startled upon disappearing again. Just as she'd feared, he really _didn't_ have control of where he wound up at half the time.

Katsu frowned at wall. Stuffing her hands in her pockets, she consciously clutched at the fabric. She'd have given anything at this point to forget the look on his face. She could handle him being angry with her over getting scalded by cheap ramen, but confusion and panic were two things she never wanted to see etched into his features ever again.

**…**

The door to the girls' room slid open, admitting entry to the silent intruder. The black-clad figure slid the door shut slowly, careful not to make any noise. Slinking past the two bags belonging to his assistant, he made his way to the other side of the room.

Naru looked around in the semi-darkness before finally finding the object of his search. He knelt down next to the worn tan rucksack and narrowed his eyes.

Katsumi Shinomori was a very paranoid, though decidedly crafty young woman. A variety of combination and keyed locks weaved and interconnected with one another, effectively halting anyone interested in rummaging through her belongings. As if that wasn't enough, she'd done it in a way so that the entire setup wouldn't come undone by simply undoing one lock alone.

With his abilities and intelligence, Naru knew very well that he could undo the setup in a matter of seconds. Putting it back together again, however, wouldn't be quite so easy. There was no doubt in his mind that the interloper would notice if anything were out of place.

Taking an overly calm breath, he extended his hand and lightly brushed his fingers against the worn fabric. He closed his eyes, concentrating on finding whatever images and sensations he could. After a moment he frowned and retracted his hand.

Naru rose and quietly left the room, looking back around to make sure he'd left nothing out of place. Satisfied, he closed the door and proceeded down the hall, aware of the dull headache that was beginning to form.

The headache was the only thing he'd gained from his effort.

That… and the smell of rain and freshly cut grass.


End file.
